134 A BUFFALO HUNT [ch. vi 
swamp. The whydah birds were continually bobbing 
up and down in front of us as they rose and fell on 
their dancing-places, while the Kavirondo cranes called 
mournfully all around. Before we had gone two miles 
buffalo were spied, well ahead, feeding close to the 
papyrus. The line of the papyrus which marked the 
edge of the swamp was not straight, but broken by 
projections and indentations ; and by following it closely 
and cutting cautiously across the points, the opportunity 
for stalking was good. As there was not a tree of any 
kind anywhere near, we had to rely purely on our 
shooting to prevent damage from the buffalo. Kermit 
and I had our double-barrels, with the Winchesters as 
spare guns, while Cuninghame carried a *577, and 
Heatley a magazine rifle. 
Cautiously threading our way along the edge of the 
swamp, we got within a hundred and fifty yards of the 
buffalo before we were perceived. There were four 
bulls, grazing close by the edge of the swamp, their 
black bodies glistening in the early sun-rays, their 
massive horns showing white, and the cow-herons 
perched on their backs. They stared sullenly at us 
with outstretched heads from under their great frontlets 
of horn. The biggest of the four stood a little out from 
the other three, and at him I fired, the bullet telling 
with a smack on the tough hide and going through the 
lungs. We had been afraid they would at once turn 
into the papyrus, but instead of this they started straight 
across our front directly for the open country. This 
was a piece of huge good luck. Kermit put his first 
barrel into the second bull, and I my second barrel into 
one of the others, after which it became impossible to 
say which bullet struck which animal, as the firing 
became general. They ran a quarter of a mile into the 
