THE AFRICAN RHINOCEROS 



when he was suddenly charged by a large female rhi- 

 noceros. Although not accompanied by any calf, a circum- 

 stance which often makes these " mothers " vicious, this 

 rhino, without any provocation whatever, charged down on 

 the doctor, who at the time was only armed with a shot- 

 gun. Hearing the angry sniffings of the rhino, and the 

 breaking down of the bush as she came on, the doctor 

 tried to run for cover, and for a few seconds raced around 

 a small but dense clump of bushes, closely followed by 

 the vicious brute. Having discovered a large tree with a 

 big cavity near the ground, the doctor unfortunately made 

 for the same. No sooner had he entered the cavity than 

 the rhino was upon him, and with its powerful horn killed 

 him in a few seconds, mutilating him in a most horrible 

 way, while the cowardly native followers looked on from 

 nearby trees, without doing anything to distract the atten- 

 tion of the rhino from the doctor. 



Mr. C. Schillings, in his wonderful experiences as a 

 pioneer wild-animal photographer, relates also in his in- 

 teresting book, '' With Flashlight and Rifle," a good many 

 instances of having been charged by a number of rhinos, 

 which he had not provoked in the least. In fact, he had 

 several times made regular detours, so as not to come too 

 near the vicious brutes, which, in spite of all precautions, 

 had scented him and charged him and his caravan. Once, 

 Mr. Schillings relates, one of his porters was badly gored 

 and tossed by a rhino, which suddenly '' ran amuck " of 

 the caravan. Wonderful enough, this particular native, 

 who had actually had his intestines thrown out of his body 

 by the rhino, subsequently recovered, without seeming to 

 be any the worse for his experience. 



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