An Afrikander’s Journal 
By JOHN A. M. LETHBR.IDGE 
X.—A Right and Left at Buffalo—Up a Tree 
Just in Time 
(Conclusion.) 
W ORKING my way down the Zambesi 
partly by canoe and partly on foot, I 
made one of the very best trips I ever 
made, both as regards quantity and fine speci¬ 
mens of different game. The mosquitoes were 
very bad, but not as bad as I had found them 
on a previous trip. It was my intention to get 
to the elephant country as easily as possible, and 
to do some trading for rubber with the natives. 
There is a great fascination about the Zam¬ 
besi. Every kind of shooting is obtainable and 
the fishing is quite good enough for anyone. 
Even now, if I were asked where I would pre¬ 
fer to go for all-round sport, I should say the 
Zambesi valley. 
After traveling for a week I found game very 
plentiful. Had I wished to kill hippos it would 
have been easy, but I steered clear of them. If 
they let me alone I would them. Crocodiles we 
saw all day and every day; some of them im¬ 
mense brutes, but as I had no ammunition to 
waste, these also were let alone, though my 
finger itched every time I saw a good chance. 
On the third day out from Livingstone I saw 
from the canoe a fine herd of lechwe, and tell¬ 
ing the boys to land me and make camp, I started 
to stalk them. The ground was very open and 
they spotted me and made off long before I was 
within range, but as there appeared to be sev¬ 
eral very good bucks among them. I followed. 
When I first left the river I thought I should 
not have far to go before getting a shot and 
stupidly went alone, not even taking a gun- 
bearer with me. Several times I was just on 
the point of shooting when they would start off 
again and I after them. After going several 
miles I at length got my chance and dropped 
a fine bull. Lechwe is a beautiful antelope and 
seldom found, I think, except on the Zambesi 
and neighboring rivers. After skinning out his 
head skin, cutting off his head and carefully 
covering these with branches I started back to 
find my camp, but I had completely lost my bear¬ 
ings, and as the country was very flat it was a 
long time before I could locate myself; how¬ 
ever, once having found the river it was an 
easy matter to reach camp. 
The following day. as 1 was very keen to get 
this head, which was a very good one, I started 
out again with a couple of boys to carry it in, 
but I could not find it, as all places looked ex¬ 
actly the same, and although I tried most care¬ 
fully I could not relocate the spot and event¬ 
ually had to give it up as a bad job, but com¬ 
ing back to camp I easily secured another, but 
I think not nearly as good as my first. There 
and then I made a vow that I would never go 
out without a boy. One never knows what may 
happen when alone; a sprain or any small acci¬ 
dent and you find yourself in an awkward pre¬ 
dicament. I had no difficulty in keeping the 
camp supplied, as game of various kinds was 
plentiful. No day passed but we saw water- 
buck, impala, pookoo and other antelope. The 
natives were not numerous; in fact, in some 
parts very scarce, and my hopes of being able 
to trade for rubber rather vanished. 
At one village I found the chief most sociable 
and very ready to give information. He told 
me that further on I should find buffalo, rhino, 
and in fact any game I wanted, but that both 
the first were hard to find, since they stuck to 
the thick thorn scrub in the daytime, coming out 
only at night to feed and drink. Although the 
heat was intense, he begged me to give him an 
old overcoat I had brought with me, and when 
I did so, he proudly wore it during the heat of 
the day. I told him that if he would send out 
some boys to locate buffalo I would stay a few 
days and shoot him some meat. This offer he 
jumped at, and it was not long before the boys 
had started out. In the evening I prospected 
around and killed two reedbuck within half a 
mile of the village; in fact, close enough to 
shout back to carriers to pack in the meat, 
which they soon did; hut there was so much 
quarreling among the villagers over the divis¬ 
ion of the meat that I turned it all over to the 
old man to divide, and then one of his wives 
made a row and .insisted that she did not get 
her fair share, but quieted down after a time. 
The old man seemed very fond of tobacco and 
was not averse to a drink of whiskey, and on 
my giving him one, asked me if I did not want 
a wife. I thought to myself, well, this is the 
height of hospitality, but declined the honor. 
The following day the'hoys brought in news 
that there were rhino not very far distant and 
I started early. There was plenty of sign, but 
it was impossible to hunt, as the bush was far 
too thick to think of going into-, and although 
there were paths through made by game, I stood 
only a very remote chance of getting a shot. I 
therefore determined to push on and waste no 
more time. 
Our next camp was on a small hill overlook¬ 
ing a very gamy country. With the glasses I 
was able to locate several species of antelope 
from the door of the tent, and the following 
morning, on getting out of bed, I spotted two 
black objects which, on closer observation, I 
made out to be buffalo. This was a chance not 
to be lost, and I was soon on their track; but 
before we could get up to them they had re¬ 
tired into the dense bush. By the spoor it was 
easy to see that this was their feeding ground 
and so I determined to try again. 
That evenin.g will ever remain in my mind as 
one of my red letter days. After all one may 
shoot elephant or rhino, but a buffalo is, I think, 
the pick of the basket. Undoubtedly he is the 
most dangerous of all African game and I think 
this is the opinion of all who have hunted him. 
He is no mean antagonist, for he is most fero¬ 
cious and savage and has strength and cunning 
to back it up. If you wound one, look out. 
That evening the sun was just going down 
when, turning round a sharp bend, I came upon 
five buffaloes not more than one hundred yards 
from me, and among them were two fine bulls. 
They had evidently just come out from the thick 
bush and were busily feeding, but one cow must 
have heard us, for she began to be suspicious. 
It did not take me a moment to make up my 
mind, and aiming just behind the shoulder of 
the nearest bull, I fired, and down he went like 
a log. For a moment the remainder stood per¬ 
fectly still, long enough for me to fire my second 
barrel at the other bull. That my shot was 
good I knew, as I plainly heard the thud of the 
bullet, but it had—or seemed to have—no effect 
on the bull, which dashed into the bush with the 
rest. Now, as I have said, following a wounded 
buffalo is no fun, and I thought it best to let 
well alone until the following morning. If wild 
animals did find the carcass during the night, 
the only thing they could injure would be the 
head skin. Luck was with me, and the follow¬ 
ing morning we took up the trail and had not 
gone more than about too yards before we came 
upon the bull, dead, of course, and untouched. 
I found that my bullet had cut the bottom of 
his heart, but he still had had sufficient strength 
to travel that distance. A right and left at buf¬ 
falo and both bulls is something worth making, 
and to say that I was proud hardly describes 
ray feelings. Although it was a piece of extra¬ 
ordinary good luck, I had bad luck with the 
heads afterward, losing both in the capsizing 
of a canoe on the Zambesi. 
