58 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
Upon one occasion a single bull, which had 
evidently been fighting, as it showed the white 
scores of an adversary’s horns upon its black hide, 
was venting its rage by pawing the green turf, and 
ploughing the soft ground with its angry head, 
when I dismounted from my pony, and advanced 
upon the open plain. Seeing me, it made hostile 
demonstrations, and marched slowly and deter¬ 
minedly forward, as though determined to settle the 
dispute at the closest quarters. When within ioo 
paces it stopped, and, after tearing up the ground 
most viciously for a few minutes, it started at full 
speed in as direct a charge as it could take ; I met 
it in the chest with a bullet from the 3-oz. rifle, 
and the bull was killed so suddenly, that the 
momentum of its attack turned the body a complete 
somersault, and it lay motionless upon the ground, 
within about 30 yards of my position. The bullet 
had entered the chest, and, after passing through 
the heart and viscera, I found it beneath the skin 
of the hind-quarters, having completely raked the 
animal from stem to stern. 
Upon two occasions, on the plain of Minneria, 
I killed two buffaloes with one bullet from the 
deadly 3-oz. rifle. There was a great commotion 
among a large herd of these animals, and upon 
my approach I discovered that a fight was going 
on between two very large bulls. When I drew 
near, the herd departed in full gallop, and left me 
alone with the two bulls, which were far too much 
engaged in their contest to regard my presence. 
