SOLDIERING AND SPORT IN MASHONALAND. 
77 
down by a draught of water, the horse, who has been “ off-saddled ” 
and allowed to graze, is loaded np with meat, and the boys carrying the 
remainder, the party makes the best of its way back to camp. In the 
open veldt where the game is seen at a distance, and before they are 
alarmed, the hunter will sometimes leave, his horse and endeavour to 
get close to them by stalking, or in parts of the country where the 
game has not been much shot at, it is sometimes possible to ride quite 
close up to them, get a shot before they take fright, and then mounting 
again, gallop after them, and pursue the same tactics as before. There 
is one kind of buck called “ sessibe,” which are almost impossible to 
get close to by galloping, owing to their great speed and powers of 
endurance. They usually inhabit the open plains, and are only to be 
got at by careful stalking and a good shot at from 400 to 500 yards 
range, at which distance they will frequently stand and watch the 
hunter, allowing him time to take careful aim, but starting off again 
at once it he attempts to approach nearer. 
Lions, although there are large numbers of them in the country, are 
not often met with in the daytime, and the best chance of getting a 
shot at one is by concealing oneself in the vicinity of a dead ox or 
other animal on a bright moonlight night, but they are very cautious 
animals, and usually choose dark nights for their marauding visits. A 
lion will sometimes kill an animal and leave the carcase half eaten at 
day-break, when he will invariably return the following night to finish 
his meal, so that in this way an opportunity is frequently given to his 
enemies of preparing a warm reception for him. Elephants are only 
met with in the northern part of the country, and are generally sup¬ 
posed to require a heavier bullet and larger charge than most other 
game, but the writer has seen one of these huge animals killed at a 
range of over a hundred yards with a single shot from a Martini-Henry 
rifle, which hit him just behind the shoulder. They are savage animals 
when wounded, or annoyed by firing, and unless hit in the right place 
will carry away any quantity of lead. In the Cape Colony, where 
there are still a few herds of elephants in the thick bush country near 
Port Elizabeth, they have been so much annoyed by hunting parties that 
they will frequently go for a white man in the most savage manner, 
even when he has no intention of molesting them, and in consequence 
they are much dreaded by the farmers in the neighbourhood, many of 
whom are not ashamed to confess that they are afraid to go out into 
the bush after sunset, when they know the elephants are about. When 
hunting them, one of the party always carries a box of matches with 
which he is ready to light the dry moss which grows on the bushes in 
great abundance, and several men have narrowly escaped with. their 
lives by making use of this dodge, the fire, which spreads rapidly, 
having the effect of frightening the elephants, and causing them to 
turn back rather than charge through the flames, 
Buffalo of the species known as Cape buffalo, which have the reputa¬ 
tion of being the most dangerous animals in the country, are generally 
found in very large herds, but they are only met with in certain 
districts; generally in the parts of the country which are infested 
with the tsetse fly. They are not, as a rule, difficult to stalk, if proper 
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