"Exit Umbezi," I said to myself, and by way of a requiem let the bull
which had hoisted him, as I thought to heaven, have an ounce of lead
in the ribs as it passed me. After that I did not fire any more, for it
occurred to me that it was as well not to further advertise my presence.
In all my hunting experience I cannot remember ever seeing such a sight
as that which followed. Out of the vlei rushed the buffalo by dozens,
every one of them making remarks in its own language as it came. They
jammed in the narrow roadway, they leapt on to each other's backs. They
squealed, they kicked, they bellowed. They charged my friendly rock till
I felt it shake. They knocked over Scowl's mimosa thorn, and would have
shot him out of his eagle's nest had not its flat top fortunately caught
in that of another and less accessible tree. And with them came clouds
of pungent smoke, mixed with bits of burning reed and puffs of hot air.
It was over at last. With the exception of some calves, which had been
trampled to death in the rush, the herd had gone. Now, like the Roman
emperor--I think he was an emperor--I began to wonder what had become of
my legions.
"Umbezi," I shouted, or, rather, sneezed through the smoke, "are you
dead, Umbezi?"
"Yes, yes, Macumazahn," replied a choking and melancholy voice from the
top of the rock, "I am dead, quite dead. That evil spirit of a silwana
[i.e. wild beast] has killed me. Oh! why did I think I was a hunter; why
did I not stop at my kraal and count my cattle?"
"I am sure I don't know, you old lunatic," I answered, as I scrambled up
the rock to bid him good-bye.
It was a rock with a razor top like the ridge of a house, and
there, hanging across this ridge like a pair of nether garments on a
clothes-line, I found the "Eater-up-of-Elephants."
"Where did he get you, Umbezi?" I asked, for I could not see his wounds
because of the smoke.
"Behind, Macumazahn, behind!" he groaned, "for I had turned to fly, but,
alas! too late."
"On the contrary," I replied, "for one so heavy you flew very well; like
a bird, Umbezi, like a bird."
"Look and see what the evil beast has done to me, Macumazahn. It will be
easy, for my moocha has gone."
So I looked, examining Umbezi's ample proportions with care, but could
discover nothing except a large smudge of black mud, as though he had
sat down in a half-dried puddle. Then I guessed the truth. The buffalo's
horns had missed him. He had been struck only with its muddy nose,
which, being almost as broad as that portion of Umbezi with which it
came in contact, had inflicted nothing worse than a bruise. When I was
sure he had received no serious injury, my temper, already sorely tried,
gave out, and I administered to him the soundest smacking--his position
being very convenient--that he had ever received since he was a little
boy.