XV 
AMERICAN BUFFALO 
79 
the people, and camp below the forest on our left, 
while I should endeavour to stalk the buffaloes and 
procure some meat for our first dinner. There was 
high ground between the two green streaks, which 
formed almost a triangle from the apex of their 
junction, therefore the distance across the base, from 
the buffaloes to the camp, would not be above a 
mile. 
We separated. Upon arrival at the bottom of 
the steep hill, I found the water, as I had expected, 
running in a clear stream only a few inches deep, 
between green rushes ; following this for some little 
distance, l arrived at the junction, and I then 
ascended the larger stream. I was accompanied by 
my hunter, Jem Bourne, and we had sent our horses, 
together with the pack animals, to the proposed 
camping-spot. My long riding boots made walking 
most unpleasant, as the grassy slopes were slippery 
in the absence of nailed soles. By preference I 
waded up the shallow stream, until we considered 
that the animals were sufficiently near to detect the 
sound of splashing. We at length arrived at a 
mound which I had particularly remarked, owing to 
the presence of a large rock, which I had at first 
mistaken for some wild animal. I knew that the 
buffaloes, when we first saw them, were lying down 
upon the slope on the other side of this unmistakable 
position. Quitting the low bed of the stream, I now 
carefully ascended the steep slope, stooping low until 
I neared the summit. There was very little wind, 
but it was in our favour. Gradually, upon nearing 
