274 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES chap. 



I had approached to within twenty yards or so of 

 the sleeping animals, and had just raised myself to a 

 sitting position for a shot from behind a small bush, 

 when one of them, which I saw from the thickness 

 of its horns was the bull, stood up, and commenced 

 to walk slowly towards my very inadequate shelter. 

 I do not think that it had any suspicion of my 

 presence, but it was soon within ten yards of the 

 little bush behind which I sat, and as it was still 

 walking slowly towards me it was necessary to do 

 something. 



As its head was held in such a position that it 

 covered its whole chest, I resolved to try and fire 

 so as just to miss its horns, and strike it in the front 

 of the head above the eyes. Even if I did not 

 succeed in doing this, but hit one of its horns 

 instead, which was very likely, considering the 

 clumsy weapon I was using, I thought that the 

 shock caused by the heavy bullet would be sure to 

 discompose my opponent sufficiently to give me 

 time to run back to the Kafirs and get my second 

 gun before it thought of charging. 



When I fired, the rhinoceros's legs seemed to 

 give way under it, and it just sank to the ground, 

 and then, rolling on to its side, lay quite still, and, 

 as I thought, dead. "Tutu," shouted the Kafirs 

 from behind me, meaning " It's done for," and 

 all of them came running up, the cow having 

 jumped up and made off immediately I fired at her 

 companion. 



We now all walked together to where the fallen 

 animal lay apparently quite dead. My four-ounce 

 round bullet had made a large hole in the front of 

 its head, into which I and several of the Kafirs 

 pushed our fingers as far as they would go. We 

 then went to the nearest tree, some sixty or seventy 

 yards away, and after resting my two elephant guns 

 — the one still unloaded — against its stem, and 



