CH. IV] PRESERVING SKINS 91 



charged, whereas we killed our first four lions and first 

 four buffaloes without any of them charoing, though 

 two of each were stopped as they were on the point of 

 charging. Moreover, our experience with this bull 

 rhino illustrates what I have already said as to one 

 animal being more dangerous under certain conditions, 

 and another more dangerous under different conditions. 

 If it had been a lion instead of a rhino, my first bullet 

 Avould, I believe, have knocked all the charge out of it, 

 but the vitality of the huge pachyderm was so great, its 

 mere bulk counted for so much, that even such a hard- 

 hittino^ rifle as mv double Holland — than which I do 

 not believe there exists a better weapon for heavy game 

 — could not stop it outright, although either of the 

 wounds infiicted would have been fatal in a few seconds. 

 Leaving a couple of men with the dead rhino, to 

 protect it from the Wakamba by day and the lions by 

 night, we rode straight to camp, ^\ liich we reached at 

 sunset. It was necessary to get to work on the two 

 dead beasts as soon as possible in order to be sure of 

 preserving their skins. Heller was the man to be 

 counted on for this task. He it was who handled all 

 the skins, who, in other words, was making the expedi- 

 tion of permanent value so far as big game was con- 

 cerned, and no work at any hour of the day or night 

 ever came amiss to him. He had already trained eight 

 Wakamba porters to act as skiimcrs under his super- 

 vision. On hearing of our success, he at once said that 

 we ought to march out to the game that night so as to 

 get to work by daylight. IMoreover, we were not com- 

 j fortable at leaving only two men with each carcass, for 

 lions were both bold and plentiful. 



The moon rose at eight, and we started as soon as 

 she was above the horizon. We did not take tlie 



