We kept on our way, however, and at length came to a spot where the tracks were so unmistakably new, that it was certain the buffaloes must be close at hand. We moved forwards with increased caution, keeping only a few yards apart.
“Narri! narri!” (buffalo! buffalo!) suddenly whispered Chukuru, and beckoned to us to halt.
“Kia hassibone narri,” (I see no buffalo), I answered, and kept on.
But Chukuru touched me on my shoulder as a sign that I should crouch down; the others took the hint and concealed themselves instantly in the grass.
“Okay?” (where) I asked.
He pointed to four dark objects lying on the ground about 120 yards distant. There could be no mistake. They were four buffaloes. One of them had its head towards me. I took aim and fired; up jumped every one to see the effect. Up sprang the buffaloes, and made off in a gallop. One of them however lagged behind; it rolled over for a moment, but sprang up quickly and overtook the rest; then again it seemed to linger. We had no doubt that it had been wounded, but whether mortally or not we could not tell.
Nothing can exceed the cunning that a buffalo will exhibit when it is wounded or infuriated. Having better powers of discrimination, it is more wary than a hippopotamus, and consequently is not so dangerous to an unarmed man, but once provoked it will fight to the bitter end. It generally makes a little retreat, and conceals itself behind a bush, where it waits for the hunter, and when he comes up makes a dash at him. Attacks of this kind are by no means unfrequent, and huntsmen of considerable experience have been known to be outwitted and seriously injured by these South African buffaloes. Sometimes the angry brute will content itself with tossing its victim into the air, in which case the mischief is generally limited to the dislocation or fracture of a limb, but far more often it holds its antagonist down upon the ground, whilst with its feet it tramples him to death. I heard of an instance on the Limpopo, where a white man and three negroes were killed, and a fourth negro much injured, all by a single buffalo bull.
The buffaloes of which we were in pursuit came to a standstill after about 200 yards; the leader of them turned, and seemed to be scenting us out; then again they started off, but after a very short run the one that was wounded fell behind and appeared anxious to conceal itself under the shelter of a tree. I made my servants approach and attract its attention, while I crept up unobserved till I was within proper range, when I immediately discharged both my barrels. The first shot entered the breast, the second hit the shoulder; and tottering forwards on to the open ground, the animal almost directly fell upon its knees. With shouts of glee my servants ran up to the spot, but on discovering that the buffalo was not dead, they were careful not to go too near, nor would I allow them to touch it until I had contrived to get sufficiently close to send a bullet behind its ear, when it fell back powerless, and its limbs were stiffened in death. The delight of my negroes was unbounded; they danced round the carcase for a few minutes, and then set to work to light a fire, at which they roasted the best part of the heart, and cutting off one of the feet toasted the marrow.
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