The morning call., 1893-01-14
BUFFALO.
1t Is a Dangerous Animal
to Arouse.
THE ADVENTURE OF A SAILOR.
An Encounter Which Came Very Near
Proving Fatal to the First
Mate of Schooner.

one OF the most majestic and restless of
wild beasts forget that he has acousin in
Africa that is even a more dangerous foe to
meet face to face. What he is like may be
seen In the following story, told in the
Philadelphia Press by the first mate Of
schooner that in September 1889. was bound
up the western coast of Africa from Port
Natal and Cape Town. The ship, needing
repairs. was lain to in Woolfsh Bay. at the
mouth OF the River Swakop, where live a
few poor natives whose dream Of happiness
and gIeatest evil is Medford rum. Wishing
game, the teller of this story aud two others
went ashore to hunt. What happened he
thus describes:
We kept pretty close together, we three.
until we came to what appeared to be a
natural opening or clearing in the forest
Half an hours walk brought us to this.
which was at least twenty acres in extent
and covered with light brushwood.
Look said Bostwick, clutching my arm
as he turned around-he was in the lead
''yonder is blooming shot, my lad; can you
make it? Thunderv' he CALCULATED in the
same breath. there's three of them"
Almost before knew il Captain Warner
and Bastwick had dropped to knee and
fired. Two brown bodies sprang into the air
and then, with a convulsed twist, dropped
back into the brush, while a third body
went bounding az if it had been shot from
a catapult. / had missed my shot.
The game secured proved to be pair of
koodeOs or twisted-horn antel0peS. They
are about the size of a Shetland pony. with
white 5treaks running Zebra-fashlon over
their backs and sides on a reddisb-gray
background. 1t is the choicest game found
anywhere in South Africa.
felt greatly provoked over my lack Of
luck, and while the captain and his pas
Sengers were trying TO secure vegetable
withes, with which to tie the feet of the
animals together for singing over a pole,
TO transport back to the coast. i wandered
along the western side of the clearing. in
search OF something TO kill. | had just
about concluded TO return when l caught q
CLEAN Of water through the trees, a little
farther on, and. thinking it might furnish
some water fowl, plunged through the
forest toward it.
1t proved to be only narrow creek which
broadeDed out into a shallow pool. and
which evidently emptied into the Swakop.
There was no sign OF bird or beast any
where near 1t. aud, pretty well disguised l
turned TO go back. In that instant / heard
a fierce snort, the rush of a huge body. and
the next moment felt myself flvng through
the air, my gun knocked from my hand and
everything lowering in chaos around me-
The instant struck the ground l was on
Il
my life was at stake.
AS raised myself there came rushing
upon me again that big dark body. but this
time it was no indistinct image; it was the
huge form. the curling horns, the glazing
eyes and thrasbing tail of Cape buffalo, a
solitaire, an old bull driven from the herd
and rendered desperate by isolation.
Despite my critical condition / almost
laughed at myself. [ felt that i was the
victim of an halucination, that was only
dreaming and that pretty soon | would
waken from the horrible nightmare and all
would be well. This feeling was the instan-
taneous outgrowth of an idea which swept
on me like flash. 1t could not be a Cape
buffalo. because this point was at least 600
miles from the Cape. and how could the
dreaded butfal0-and in its wild state
solitaire. an isolated bull especially. moth
ing is more dreaded by the Beers and BUSH
men-have strayed away thus far? If this
was Cape buffalo he must De at least $50
miles from his fayorite haunts. This was
my idea, but the reality dispelled It, for
there was the great brute with its horns
forming bone helmet on its foreheod.
making for me with its head down, and bent
on my destruction.
/ had no time to dwell on the rapidity OF
Thought; how, after the first attack and in
the few seconds interval before the second,
all these things had come into my mind. had
been duly discussed and then dismissed;
what / had then to do was to escape that
snorting monster which had rushed upon me
from his Shiny burrow or wash on the edge
of the creek. Without giving me a respite.
the enraged brute was upon me once more,
but managed to leap aside just as the awful
front, with It's cleaning eyes, like gems in
velvet. swept pastme in impotent rage.
1t was at this tnhcture that l made the
mistake which came nearly costing me my
life. eDdeavored to recover my shotgun.
1t had been knocked from my hand at the
G~ar -lAf try.t .f fha Es.ff Loo
bad been lying in its lair on the bank Of
the stream, characteristic Of the brute,
and sprang at me as i turned.
Dazed by the attack. l had miscalculated
the distance OF my weapon. l reached it.
but at that instant the buffalo was ON me
again, and. dropping the gun. L had only
time to seize one OF its long curved and
bare-like horns TO save myself from be-
ing gored. In the ensuing two minutes
l lived an age. To release my hold on the
horn Of the maddened animal was to pre-
cipitate myself to death. To hang on meant
death. l had already experienced what
this meant, for, lying with my shoulders to
the ground and with the horn held close
against my breast. my feet and legs were
dragging along the side Of the buffalo, and
In this fashion one of the hoofs of the brute
had been planted on my right foot with a
force that made me scream with pain aud
led me to believe that my foot had been
crushed.
My weight fortunately kept the buffalo's
muZzle close TO the ground. | was dead
weight dragging him down, but how long
could | sustain this unequal struggled Then
l began to scream ana cry aloDd for help.
1t seemed almost useless, for the distance
was so great that did not even then be-
lieve-and all these thoughts passed through
nv brain like fire-that Warner and Bost-
wick could reach me in time. But made
the forest ring with my shouts; they even
astonished the buffalo, for be halted with
lowered head, blazing eyes and frothing
muZzle, and for at least moment remained
motionless, save for a slight vaclllating
movement OF the head, and with forefeet
planted wide apart.
Ii you ask me to explain how it was that
all these minute details stood cut so con-
spicuously In my seeming death hour. /
must reply that / DO not know. Possibly
my brain was cleared by the impending
presence OF death. l have heard that in
drowning persons see everything OF mo-
ment In their past lives moving before them
like panorama with awful distinctness of
detail.
In my case the present was intensified
My brain was clearer, my thoughts and
ideas and sensations were in tensifed, and
believe that IL had been called upon to
speak, my lang uagr, describing all this,
could have been more comprehensive, more
loud, perhaps. more scholarly than 1t ever
was before or since.
The pIungng and snorting of the buffalo
began the instant / ceased shouting from ex-
haustion. He swung his head and tried to
plunge his horns into his body. ] almost
grinned TO myself at the spectacle ] must
have presented to an outsider That OF
wet house fioorcloth on the end of mop
stick swung to and fro by child
Round and round, up and down thes mar
row, graSs-grown space between the trees
demonllke brute raced, dragging one after
him and seeking at every opportunity to pin
one to the earth with his long, curved but
lancelike horns. MY face and right shoulder
were covered with the hot foam In his lolling
jaws, while his hot breath burned like
furnace fire OH my face
q At the end of five minutes when my left
leg stuDg as il thousand bees had buried