ed beasts. A
flank charge at close range may catch the most experienced man; and even
when clearly seen, it is difficult to stop. The buffalo's wide bosses
are a helmet to his brain, and the body shot is always chancy. The beast
tosses his victim, or tramples him, or pushes him against a tree to
crush him like a fly.

He who would get his trophy, however, is not always-perhaps is not
generally-forced into the thicket to get it. When not much disturbed,
buffaloes are in the habit of grazing out into the open just before
dark; and of returning to their thicket cover only well after sunrise.
If the hunter can arrange to meet his herd at such a time, he stands a
very good chance of getting a clear shot. The job then requires merely
ordinary caution and manoeuvring; and the only danger, outside the
ever-present one from the wounded beast, is that the herd may charge
over him deliberately. Therefore it is well to keep out of sight.

The difficulty generally is to locate your beasts. They wander all
night, and must be blundered upon in the early morning before they have
drifted back into the thickets. Sometimes, by sending skilled trackers
in several directions, they can be traced to where they have entered
cover. A messenger then brings the white man to the place, and every one
tries to guess at what spot the buffaloes are likely to emerge for their
evening stroll. It is remarkably easy to make a wrong guess, and the
remaining daylight is rarely sufficient to repair a mistake. And also,
in the case of a herd ranging a wide country with much tall grass and
several drinking holes, it is rather difficult, without very good luck,
to locate them on any given night or morning. A few herds, a very few,
may have fixed habits, and so prove easy hunting.

These difficulties, while in no way formidable, are real enough in their
small way; but they are immensely increased when the herds have been
often disturbed. Disturbance need not necessarily mean shooting. In
countries unvisited by white men often the pastoral natives will so
annoy the buffalo by shoutings and other means, whenever they appear
near the tame cattle, that the huge beasts will come practically
nocturnal. In that case only the rankest luck will avail to get a man
a chance in the open. The herds cling to cover until after sundown and
just at dusk; and they return again very soon after the first streaks of
dawn. If the hunter just happens to be at the exact spot, he may