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AFRICAN HUNTING. 
his. He backed some four feet and lowered Ms head 
as if about to charge, and we stood for two minutes 
or more with some tangled brush-wood not four feet 
high and very thin between us. I hardly know 
myself how I avoided his last charge; I threw out 
both arms and pushed myself from his body, and 
away as hard as I could, closely pursued by the bull. 
His hot breath was on my neck, and in two strides 
more nothing could have saved me ; but at this spot 
the path turned to the right, and missing me he went 
headlong through a fearfully tangled thicket and 
broke into the open not twenty yards a-head and 
about seven or eight on my left, carrying half a cart¬ 
load of rubbish on his horns. I threw myself on my 
back in the thicket to prevent his seeing me, on 
reaching the open. Just as he broke, and when he 
was about twenty yards from me going straight away, 
I recovered myself, gave him my second barrel, which 
I had had no opportunity of firing before, hitting 
him high up on the last rib on the off side just in 
front of the hip, when he threw up his tail, made a 
tremendous bound in the air, and dashed through 
bush thorns so dense and close that it was perfectly 
wonderful how he managed it, and fell dead in about 
200 yards, with the low moaning bellow so gratifying 
to a hunter’s ears. My trusty Amatongas descended 
immediately from the different trees which they had 
climbed as soon as the affray commenced, and were 
most lavish in their compliments to me. I was 
going to rate them soundly for their cowardice, but 
