force him to stand at bay; upon which he
instantly charged me with a low roar, very similar to the voice of a
lion. Colesberg neatly avoided the charge, and the bull resumed his
northward course. We now entered on rocky ground, and the forest became
more dense as we proceeded. The buffaloes were evidently making for some
strong retreat. I, however, managed with much difficulty to hold them in
view, following as best I could through thorny thickets. Isaac rode
some hundred yards behind, and kept shouting to me to drop the pursuit,
or I should be killed. At last the buffaloes suddenly pulled up, and
stood at bay in a thicket, within twenty yards of me. Springing from my
horse, I hastily loaded my two-grooved rifle, which I had scarcely
completed when Isaac rode up and inquired what had become of the
buffaloes, little dreaming that they were standing within twenty yards
of him. I answered by pointing my rifle across his horse's nose, and
letting fly sharp right and left at the two buffaloes. A headlong
charge, accompanied by a muffled roar, was the result. In an instant I
was round a clump of tangled thorn-trees; but Isaac, by the violence of
his efforts to get his horse in motion, lost his balance, and at the
same instant, his girths giving way, himself, his saddle, and big Dutch
rifle, all came to the ground together, with a heavy crash right in the
path of the infuriated buffaloes. Two of the dogs, which had fortunately
that moment joined us, met them in their charge, and, by diverting their
attention, probably saved Isaac from instant destruction. The buffaloes
now took up another position in an adjoining thicket. They were both
badly wounded, blotches and pools of blood marking the ground where they
had stood. The dogs rendered me assistance by taking up their attention,
and in a few minutes these two noble bulls breathed their last beneath
the shade of a mimosa grove. Each of them in dying repeatedly uttered a
very striking, low, deep moan. This I subsequently ascertained the
buffalo invariably utters when in the act of expiring.

On going up to them I was astonished to behold their size and powerful
appearance. Their horns reminded me of the rugged trunk of an oak-tree.
Each horn was upward of a foot in breadth at the base, and together they
effectually protected the skull with a massive and impenetrable shield.
The horns, descending and spreading out horizontally, completely
over-shadowed the animal's eyes, imparti