BUFFALO 
185 
being double-trunked, formed a rude sort of ladder. I 
now lost no time in reaching its shelter, nor in scaling it, 
despite cruel thorns. At one time I was fairly handy at 
tree-climbing; nowadays I prefer not to be hurried in the 
operation, especially among 3-inch thorns. The occasion, 
however, was one of urgency. 
Of the intrusive bull I saw no more. Curiosity had 
given place to the exigency of the moment, and not even 
explosive grunts within a yard of my legs were allowed to 
interfere with the instant necessity of climbing a trifle 
higher. Ere I had gained a safe position he had dis¬ 
appeared in the bush. 
From my perch I thought I could distinguish—• 
though quite uncertainly—the position of both the fallen 
buffaloes, each point being surrounded by sympathetic 
fellows, while others lingered in the shades beyond. 
None saw us in our trees. Few wild animals ever look 
upwards and, with buffalo, the overhung bosses of the 
horn form a specific obstacle; moreover, their foes are not 
usually arboreal. More than half an hour we had 
remained aloft—myriads of biting tree-ants adding to the 
torment of the thorns—when a burst of loud and con¬ 
tinuous bellowing resounded through the forest. This, I 
felt assured, signified the death-throes of one of the victims 
■—fancied I could recollect Selous or Jackson so describing 
it. Baraka also had rightly interpreted the signal; for he 
now rushed up—I know not whence—seized my rifle 
(which I had fain left atop of the ant-hill), and urged me 
to come forward. But I regarded masterly inactivity as 
a safer policy meanwhile, and ordered him to sit down, 
adding (what he perfectly understood), fy suis, j y reste — - 
till that bellowing is all over. 
When silence reigned once more, we reassembled and 
continued a cautious advance. In a little inset opening 
close ahead, and within ten yards of each other, lay the 
pair of ingentia corpora. The survivors had cleared and 
we saw no more of them. Yet another thrill—electric in 
