uts one morning brought in word that an immense herd of
bulls was in advance about two miles off. They are known in the
distance from the cows by their feeding singly, and being scattered over
the plain,--whereas the cows keep together, for the purpose of
protecting the calves, which are always kept in the centre of the herd.

We will start at daybreak with our friend, and a half-breed as a guide.
Six hours' hard riding brings us to within a quarter of a mile of the
nearest herd. The main body stretches over the plains as far as the eye
can reach, the wind blowing in our faces. We should have liked to have
attacked them at once, but the guide will not hear of it, as it is
contrary to the law of his tribe. We therefore shelter ourselves behind
a mound, relieving our horses of their saddles to cool them. In about
an hour one hundred and thirty hunters come up, every man loading his
gun, looking to the priming, and examining the efficiency of his
saddle-girths. The elder caution the less experienced not to shoot each
other,--such accidents sometimes occurring. Each hunter then fills his
mouth with bullets, which he drops into the gun without wadding; by this
means loading more quickly, and being able to do so whilst his horse is
at full speed. We slowly walk our horses towards the herd. Advancing
about two hundred yards, the animals perceive us, and start off in the
opposite direction, at the top of their speed. We now urge our horses
to full gallop, and in twenty minutes are in the midst of the stamping
long-haired herd. There cannot be less than four or five thousand in
our immediate vicinity,--all bulls; not a single cow amongst them. The
scene now becomes one of intense excitement,--the huge bulk thundering
over the plain in headlong confusion, while the fearless hunters ride
recklessly in their midst, keeping up an incessant fire but a few yards
from their victims. Upon the fall of each buffalo the hunter merely
throws, close to it, some article of his apparel to denote his own prey,
and then rushes on to another. The chase continues for about one hour,
extending over an area of about six square miles, where may be seen the
dead and dying buffaloes to the number of five hundred. In spite of his
horsemanship, more than one hunter has been thrown from his steed, in
consequence of the innumerable badger-holes in which the plains abound.
Two others are carried back to camp insensible. We have just put a
bul