TRACKING A WOUNDED BUFFALO. 1 79 way. I, moreover, very much doubt the ability of the Hamran sheik to have made any arrangement for our going to Wolkait.

My brother Arthur and I started to take up the tracks of the bull buffalo that had been wounded the previous day, taking with us Achmet, our stud groom, an excellent tracker (quite as good as if not better than Salee), who had been present when the animal was wounded, and had helped to track him for some miles. He took us straight to where they had given up pursuing him the day before, which was not more than half an hour's walk from camp. After following his footprints for about ten minutes, we came to where he had evidently passed the night, and very soon perceived, by certain indisputable signs, that the object of our pursuit was not far off. Achmet declared that the other bull, his companion, which had drunk with him at Khor Meheteb, had joined him ; he could distinguish the tracks of both animals, although the jungle was rather thick, and the ground hard and stony. He, moreover, noticed that one of them did not stop to eat grass on the way, but that the other frequently did so ; the former he declared to be the wounded one, and he was no doubt quite right. These little things would escape the notice of most people, but Achmet was marvellously quick and observant.

Eventually we tracked the buffaloes into a thick clump of dwarf dJiouin-2\m ; and Achmet felt sure he saw one of them through thfe bushes, and endeavoured to point it out to us. At last Arthur saw a small black patch in the thicket, which he would have been very sorry to have sworn to being any part of a buffalo. As it was impossible, however, to go any nearer, so as to make further investigations, he fired at this black patch. We heard no crash after the shot, and he fired twice again, with no visible result. Achmet next ascended a tree, so as to endeavour to look over into the bushes ; he was not long in getting