DRAMA OF AFRICAN BUSH

Mt Benger Mail, 2 November 1938, Page 4

DRAMA OF AFRICAN BUSH

HUNTER WHO LOST ms RIFLE SAW FRIEND KILLED BY BUFFALO Two more deaths from attacks by buffaloes are reported from Africa. One of the victims was Major J. J. Bosnian, a most experienced big-game hunter in the Transvaal. In the opinion of many experienced men a bull in a Spanish arena is a contemptible little beast in comparison with an angry buffalo in the African bush. Several authorities place the buffalo at the top of the list of Africa’s dangerous animals. F. C. Selous put the lion first, and bracketed the elephant and buffalo next. It depends on the type of country and the hunting conditions. The question really is which is the most dangerous wild animal when wounded. More hunters are killed by lions than by any other wild beast; the dirty claws and teeth help to increase the death-roll; a charging elephant is an unpleasant sight, but it must be remembered that the elephant’s eyesight and hearing are poor. With the buffalo, however, old hunters are doubly cautious. He is a cunning adversary; and you may encounter him in costal swamps or 10,000 feet up on mountain slopes. His is the simplest of all spoors to follow, but he has learnt to take cover, and therein lies the great danger of buffalo hunting. When he attacks he can, if he needs to, jump like a horse. Armoured Head Hunters wait until the huge black shape, with nostrils uplifted, approaches within about 20 paces. The armoured head will not often be pierced by a bullet; a well-aimed shoulder shot is best. As the hunter fires, he knows that he is running the risk of infuriating a creature which can be stopped while charging, only by death. The shot gives the hunter’s presence away, for your bu,ffalo has good eyesight, and keen scent and hearing. After the shot, the hunter must kill or be mauled. Once I met, as a fellow-passen-ger from India to East Africa, a woman who specialised in capturing and transporting wild animals to the zoos of the world, states a writer in the London EveningNews. She was Mrs C. Schulz, of Tanganyika; and her husband, who is in the same business, was once treed by a buffalo. Helpless, without his rifle, he was forced to watch his partner being gored to death below. Mr Schulz made several attempts to climb down and reach his rifle; but each time the buffalo left his victim and waited for him. A lion will often leave its prey, unaccountably; a buffalo, though, is

vindictive and merciless, even long after its victim is dead. Attack from the Rear I was once in the Kalahari desert with a hunter and desert guide, Mr Donald Bain of Capetown, who can claim the most remarkable escape from a buffalo ever recorded. Standing six feet four inches, Mr Bain weighs 236 pounds yet “I felt like a sawdust doll when that buffalo tackled me,” he said. lie was leading an expedition in northern Bechuanaland. In cainp one day, attending to the trophies, he received a note from his companions: “We are following up a wounded buffalo, but he has gone into thick bush. Please bring dogs. Urgent.” With only a walking stick in his hand, Mr Bain set out with the dogs. Suddenly he heard a crackling noise. He looked round and saw a large bull buffalo lumi bering toward him,. “I raced for the nearest tree,” he told me. “The buffalo, close behind, missed me and gashed the bark of the tree-trunk. It chased me three times round that tree, then swirled round. I saved myself, with a tremendous effort, from falling over the horns. Next moment I was haring toward a high ant-heap. “But the buffalo was gaining on me I felt an impact, and then I was in the air. I didn't lose consciousness. The buffalo tried to kneel on me. I wriggled and rolled, twisted, kicked and fought. After a time my legs became useless. At last I lay winded and unable to move. The buffalo smelt me from the boots upwards, then lowered his head for the last charge. I “But my companions arrived , just at that moment One of them shot and killed the animal.” Not a bone was broken in Mr Bain’s strong body. A wounded buffalo will go in a circle to attack a hunter from the I rear. It is a menace to human • beings, and in places a destroyer of crops. No licence is needed, in many tcritories, for hunting it. At one time tracking down buffalo was a paying game for the professional hunter, for traders would pay £lO apiece for buffalo hides. _ The natives in Uganda kill buffalo with spears; and in West Africa natives take pot-shots, at the risk of their lives, with muzzleloaders. But the white hunter will choose his heaviest rifle, and take careful aim.