hat we had now reached the place where he had seen the buffalo.
I can tell you they are very different animals from those we met with
further to the north. These are pictures of brute strength and
ferocity, their horns, short and curling, but pointed like daggers,
meeting at the roots, where they form a thick mass, serving as a helmet
to the animal. I was afraid of coming suddenly upon them, for I knew
that if startled they would be off before I could obtain a shot. Mango
was positive that we were near them. He suggested at last that we
should climb a tree, whence we might survey the neighbourhood. Finding
one, we mounted it, and when I had got a steady footing, I looked round
me, hoping to discover the animals. Not a living creature, however,
stirred. At last my companion pointed out some dark objects just seen
indistinctly through the thick foliage. They were the backs of the
buffaloes, I had little doubt. I fired, but nothing moved, and I could
not help supposing that I had mistaken some large stone for a living
creature. To settle the matter, I again loaded and fired. At the
report of the gun, half-a-dozen superb male buffaloes sprang to their
feet, and, tossing their heads, sniffed the air for a few seconds, and
darted off through the wood. My companion and I immediately descended
the tree and I made chase in the hopes of coming up with them by
following their tracks. We proceeded for some little way along the
borders of the forest, when Mango stopping, pointed ahead, and I saw a
vast herd of buffaloes--there might have been nearly three hundred of
them--suddenly rushing out of the wood, overthrowing and stamping down
every object they met with in their headlong course. We rushed back
towards the wood, where alone we could hope for safety. A portion of it
projected some way at an angle from that part whence the buffaloes had
issued. They espied us, however, and came tearing on across the open.
We dashed in among the underwood, but before we had got far they were at
our heels. Two savage brutes led the way. The horns of the first were
almost into poor Mango. A tree with low branches was near me. It would
afford us the only prospect of safety. Had I stopped for a moment to
fire, it would have been too late, and it might not have served to turn
them in their course. I sprang to the tree, helping up the boy, who had
barely time to get out of the way of the leader's horns, when the herd
rushed by us.