Here the
wounded animal lay unable to rise, and his conqueror commenced a slow
retreat across the plain.
Leaving B. to extinguish the wounded buffalo, I gave chase to the
retreating bull. At an easy canter he would gain a hundred paces and
then, turning, he would face me; throwing his nose up, and turning his
head to one side with a short grunt, he would advance quickly for a few
paces, and then again retreat as I continued to approach.
In this manner he led me a chase of about a mile along the banks of the
lake, but he appeared determined not to bring the fight to an issue at
close quarters. Cursing his cowardice, I fired a long shot at him, and
reloading my last spare ball I continued the chase, led on by ignorance
and excitement.
The lake in one part stretched in a narrow creek into the plain, and the
bull now directed his course into the angle formed by this turn. I
thought that I lead him in a corner, and, redoubling my exertions, I
gained upon him considerably. He retreated slowly to the very edge of
the creek, and I had gained so fast upon him that I was not thirty paces
distant, when he plunged into the water and commenced swimming across
the creek.
