Hunters three: Sport and adventure in South Africa

by Thomas Wallace Knox

"No, we haven't as yet," she answered, "and we're deliberating whether to go there or not. We have been told that there's some fine buffalo-hunting up in the fly country, and want to go there; but of course if we do we must leave our horses behind, or be put to the pain of seeing them die."

I may as well explain to the reader that the tsetse-fly is one of the scourges of certain parts of Africa. It is about the size of the common house-fly, or a little larger, and is harmless to horned cattle and donkeys, and also harmless to the human race; but, to use a slang expression, it is "death on horses." The bite of a tsetse-fly causes the death of a horse in a very short time; the skin swells enormously, great festering sores follow, and no remedy has yet been found for the bite. The valleys of certain rivers and lakes are infested with these flies, while other parts of the country are entirely free from them. Sometimes they are found on one side of a river but not on the other, and the alternations of heat and cold do not seem to have any effect in driving them away.

We had quite a talk about the flies, and speculated as to the reason why some animals were attacked and others exempt. Other travelers have speculated on the same subject before and since, but I presume their investigations had no more practical result than ours did.

"Our foreman told us," said Mrs. Roberts, "that up in the fly country there were great herds of buffaloes—thousands of animals in a herd—and that this was about the time for attacking them. I don't think we are quite equal to one of the large herds, but after the other hunters have gone in and broken them up we might attack some of the stragglers."

I was able to tell the lady something about that style of hunting, as I had been engaged in it the previous year. "A party of us formed a camp on a little stream called the Gumban; then we sent out native hunters in all directions to visit the drinking-places of the buffaloes, find the large troops of the animals, and break them up. The buffaloes form into these troops in the summer and get broken up in the winter by the hunters. We were lucky enough to find one of the largest troops, which was known to the natives as the 'dust-raiser.' It was several days before we struck the herd, but when we did we had lively work. My first experience with one of that herd was something to remember."

"I would like very much to hear about it," said Mrs. Roberts, "if you have no objection to telling me."

"Oh, not at all," I replied; "on the contrary, it will give me great pleasure. It was a very brief affair, as I came suddenly upon the animal when he was standing under a tree. I was not aware that any buffalo was about, and was carrying a rifle loaded for koodoo. My gun-bearer was behind me with my large rifle, and I quickly exchanged one for the other. I took a shot at the buffalo, but it was not sufficient to bring him down. He turned and charged upon me; I dodged behind a tree, and as he went past and was turning to come back at me I gave him a second shot which laid him low.

"Half an hour after that," said I, "I met my friend Harry, who was of our hunting-party, and when he caught sight of me he came forward on a run. He said he had wounded a buffalo and it had retreated into a very disagreeable place—into a thorn-thicket, where it was not easy to follow. He proposed that we should get on opposite sides of the thicket—which was not very large—and then send our trackers in to drive the animal out.

"I had a quiet laugh to myself," I continued, "because I saw a very large defect in his scheme. The thicket was not far off, and we went to it; but when Harry suggested that the trackers should go inside they demurred emphatically. There was a tall tree at the side of the thicket, and I proposed that Harry should climb that tree with the aid of his tracker, and from that point he would be able to see his game; I would stand at the foot of a tree at the opposite side of the thicket, and be prepared to meet the animal in case it came out at that point.

"Harry acted according to my suggestion, and after reaching an elevation of about thirty feet he called out that he could see the buffalo distinctly. Then he gave it a shot, and it looked around very much surprised, not knowing whence it was assaulted. Another shot followed, and then the beast made a break outside the thicket close to my position. I managed to lay it low, and then I shouted to Harry that he could descend from his perch."