xviii RHINOCEROS WOUNDED 379 



thinking that the meat, at any rate, would come in 

 handy, I shot the largest amongst them, a heifer with 

 tusks about 5 lbs. in weight. 1 then left them and 

 rode back to the waggons, intensely disgusted at the 

 bad luck I had met with, for the veldt was very open, 

 and had the elephants only been worth shooting, I 

 might have had a good and remunerative day's sport 

 with them. 



The next day we rode across to the Umbila river 

 to look for elephant spoor, but saw none. Whilst 

 on our way back I shot a sable antelope cow, with a 

 very fine pair of horns. 



On the I ith, as we were getting no fresh elephant 

 spoor about the Umsengaisi, we inspanned the waggon 

 and started back for the Umfule. We had just 

 outspanned late in the afternoon, and were getting 

 things square for the night, when the cattle-herd ran 

 up to tell us that two rhinoceroses were coming down 

 to water a (qw hundred yards up the valley. We 

 seized our rifles, and ran down to try and get a shot 

 at them, and soon espied two black rhinoceroses just 

 emerging from the bush on their way to the water. 

 The bush was very open, and the sharp-scented 

 though short-sighted beasts seemed suspicious of 

 danger ; however, taking advantage of the cover 

 afforded by a very small bush, I managed to approach 

 within seventy yards of the cow, which was then 

 standing broadside to me, I was just raising my 

 rifle to fire when she must have made me out, for 

 she wheeled round and faced towards me. Seeing 

 that there was no time to be lost, I gave her a shot 

 between the neck and the shoulder, which brought 

 her to her knees, but she recovered herself at once, 

 and wheeling round, was just starting off when 

 Clarkson gave her another shot in the ribs that again 



