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The Land of Footprints-Part36_Stewart Edward White(1873-1946)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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far ahead. Our object was not now to try for a bull, but merely

to find where the herd was feeding, in order that we might wait



for it to come out. However, we were brought to a stand, in the

middle of a jungle of green leaves, by the cropping sound of a



beast grazing just the other side of a bush. We could not see it,

and we stood stock still in the hope of escaping discovery



ourselves. But an instant later a sudden crash of wood told us we

had been seen. It was near work. The gunbearers crouched close to



me. I held the heavy double gun ready. If the beast had elected

to charge I would have had less than ten yards within which to



stop it. Fortunately it did not do so. But instantly the herd was

afoot and off at full speed. A locomotive amuck in a kindling



pile could have made no more appalling a succession of rending

crashes than did those heavy animals rushing here and there



through the thick woody growth. We could see nothing. Twice the

rush started in our direction, but stopped as suddenly as it had



begun, to be succeeded by absolutestillness when everything,

ourselves included, held its breath to listen. Finally, the first



panic over, the herd started definitely away downstream. We ran

as fast as we could out of the jungle to a commanding position on



the hill. Thence we could determine the course of the herd. It

continued on downstream as far as we could follow the sounds in



the convolutions of the hills. Realizing that it would improbably

recover enough from its alarmed condition to resume its regular



habits that day, we returned to camp.

Next morning Memba Sasa and I were afield before daylight. We



took no other men. In hunting I am a strong disbeliever in the

common habit of trailing along a small army. It is simple enough,



in case the kill is made, to send back for help. No matter how

skilful your men are at stalking, the chances of alarming the



game are greatly increased by numbers; while the possibilities of

misunderstanding the plan of campaign, and so getting into the



wrong place at the wrong time, are infinite. Alone, or with one

gunbearer, a man can slip in and out a herd of formidable animals



with the least chances of danger. Merely going out after camp

meat is of course a different matter.



We did not follow in the direction taken by the herd the night

before, but struck off toward the opposite side of the valley.



For two hours we searched the wooded country at the base of the

cliff mountains, working slowly around the circle, examining



every inlet, ravine and gully. Plenty of other sorts of game we

saw, including elephant tracks not a half hour old; but no



buffalo. About eight o'clock, however, while looking through my

glasses, I caught sight of some tiny chunky black dots crawling



along below the mountains diagonally across the valley, and

somewhat over three miles away. We started in that direction as



fast as we could walk. At the end of an hour we surmounted the

last swell, and stood at the edge of a steep drop. Immediately



below us flowed a good-sized stream through a high jungle over

the tops of which we looked to a triangular gentle slope



overgrown with scattered bushes and high grass. Beyond this again

ran another jungle, angling up hill from the first, to end in a



forest of trees about thirty or forty acres in extent. This

jungle and these trees were backed up against the slope of the



mountain. The buffaloes we had first seen above the grove: they

must now have sought cover among either the trees or the lower



jungle, and it seemed reasonable that the beasts would emerge on

the grass and bush area late in the afternoon. Therefore Memba



Sasa and I selected good comfortable sheltered spots, leaned our

backs against rocks, and resigned ourselves to long patience. It



was now about nine o'clock in the morning, and we could not

expect our game to come out before half past three at earliest.



We could not, however, go away to come back later because of the

chance that the buffaloes might take it into their heads to go



travelling. I had been fooled that way before. For this reason,

also, it was necessary, every five minutes or so, to examine



carefully all our boundaries; lest the beasts might be slipping

away through the cover.



The hours passed very slowly. We made lunch last as long as

possible. I had in my pocket a small edition of Hawthorne's "The



House of the Seven Gables," which I read, pausing every few




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