135 
CH. VI] A WOUNDED BUFFALO 
open, and then the big bull 1 had first shot, and which 
had no other bullet in him, dropped dead, while the 
other three, all of which were wounded, halted beside 
him. We walked toward them, rather expecting a 
charge ; but when we were still over two hundred yards 
away they started back for the swamp, and we began 
firing. The distance being long, I used my Winchester. 
I aimed well before one bull, and he dropped to the shot 
as if poleaxed, falling straight on his back with his legs 
kicking ; but in a moment he was up again and after the 
others. Later I found that the bullet, a full-metal 
patch, had struck him in the head, but did not penetrate 
to the brain, and merely stunned him for the moment. 
All the time we kept running diagonally to their line of 
flight. They were all three badly wounded, and when 
they reached the tall rank grass, high as a man’s head, 
which fringed the papyrus swamp, the two foremost lay 
down, while the last one, the one I had floored with the 
Winchester, turned, and with nose outstretched began 
to come toward us. He was badly crippled, however, 
and with a soft-nosed bullet from my heavy Holland 1 
knocked him down, this time for good. The other two 
then rose, and though each was again hit, they reached 
the swamp, one of them to our right, the other to the 
left, where the papyrus came out in a point. 
We decided to go after the latter, and, advancing very 
cautiously toward the edge of the swamp, put in the 
three big dogs. A moment after they gave tongue 
within the papyrus ; then we heard the savage grunt of 
the buffalo, and saw its form just within the reeds ; and 
as the rifles cracked, down it went. But it was not 
dead, for we heard it grunt savagely, and the dogs 
bayed as loudly as ever. Heatley now mounted his 
trained shooting-pony and rode toward the place, while 
