106 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
was about the same time that a gentleman hurrying 
from town up to the Government House one evening 
met a lion in the middle of the street to the embarrass- 
ment of both parties. _ 
There are some phrases in Tennyson’s “‘Charge of 
the Light Brigade” that put me in mind of the rhi- 
noceros, or ‘‘rhino,”’ as everyone calls him in Africa. 
“Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and 
die.” 
But it is stupidity, not duty, that keeps the rhino 
from reasoning. He is the stupidest old fellow in 
Africa. I know that many experienced hunters like- 
wise consider him one of the most dangerous animals 
in Africa. I can’t quite agree with this. Of course, 
if he runs over you not only is it dangerous, but it is 
also likely to be fatal. It is also true that as soon as 
he smells man he is likely to start charging around in 
a most terrifying manner, but the rhino is never cun- 
ning like the elephant, nor is his charge accurate like 
that of a lion, nor is the rhino vindictive like the 
buffalo or the leopard. Most men’s estimates of the 
relative dangers of African animals are based upon 
their own experiences. The animals that have mauled 
them worst or scared them worst they hold most 
dangerous. I have been mauled by an elephant, 
chewed by a leopard, and scared half to death a dozen 
times by lions, so that I have the very firmest con- 
victions about the dangers of these animals. On the 
other hand, I have twice been caught by rhinos in 
positions where an elephant, a lion, or a leopard would 
