them. At this distance the main body of the herd suddenly wheeled round
and thundered across the plain in full retreat. One of the bulls at the
same moment charged straight at us, but when within twenty paces of the
guns he turned to one side, and instantly received two balls in the
shoulder, B. and I having fired at the same moment. As luck would have
it, his blade-bone was thus broken, and he fell upon his knees, but
recovering himself in an instant, he retreated on three legs to the
water.

We now received assistance from an unexpected quarter. One of the large
bulls, his companions, charged after him with great fury, and soon
overtaking the wounded beast, he struck him full in the side, throwing
him over with a great shock on the muddy border of the lake. Here the
wounded animal lay unable to rise, and his conqueror commenced a slow
retreat across the plain.

Leaving B. to extinguish the wounded buffalo, I gave chase to the
retreating bull. At an easy canter he would gain a hundred paces and
then, turning, he would face me; throwing his nose up, and turning his
head to one side with a short grunt, he would advance quickly for a few
paces, and then again retreat as I continued to approach.

In this manner he led me a chase of about a mile along the banks of the
lake, but he appeared determined not to bring the fight to an issue at
close quarters. Cursing his cowardice, I fired a long shot at him, and
reloading my last spare ball I continued the chase, led on by ignorance
and excitement.

The lake in one part stretched in a narrow creek into the plain, and the
bull now directed his course into the angle formed by this turn. I