THE BIG GAME OE AFRICA 



a little ridge, we discovered two large rhinos calmly feed- 

 ing close to each other on either side of the little path, 

 only a few hundred yards away from us. The animals 

 were walking slowly in the same direction as we, and as 

 we would have caught up with them in a very little while, 

 we decided to try our old method of scaring them away 

 with great noise. On a certain signal, some fifty of us 

 shouted at the top of our lungs, while others beat empty 

 water cans and pails. This had the unexpected effect that 

 both animals instantly whirled around and charged down 

 on us like a team of horses, running along close to each 

 other, one on each side of the little path. 



I had several times heard that if a large animal is hit 

 on one side, it invariably turns out toward the other side 

 to find his pursuer, and not wanting to kill any of the 

 beasts, I fired, when they had come within some fifty yards, 

 hitting each of them on the side facing the other. It was 

 just as if a mighty wedge had been driven in between the 

 animals, for they suddenly separated and ran away in dif- 

 ferent directions. The female disappeared on our right 

 into a clump of bushes, whereas the larger one, an old male 

 with a fine horn, rushed off to our left into the open. 

 After making a run for a few seconds, he suddenly changed 

 his mind, possibly annoyed by the noise and laughter of 

 the men, and turning around, he charged us again with 

 uplifted tail and lowered horn, coming on as fast as he 

 could ! 



In the meanwhile I had had time to reload the big rifle 

 and was ready to give him a " warm reception." Between 

 us and the charging brute was a low, circular anthill, only 

 some fifteen yards away, and I said to Mr. Lang and the 



142 



