ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 91 



they went at a run, one or two of the cows in the first hurry 

 and confusion skipping clean over the backs of others that 

 got in their way a most unexpected example of agility in 

 such large and ponderous animals. After a few hundred 

 yards they settled down to the slashing trot which is their 

 natural gait, and disappeared over the brow of a hill. 



The morning was a blank, but early in the afternoon 

 we saw the eland herd again. They were around a tree in 

 an open space, and we could not get near them. But in- 

 stead of going straight away they struck off to the right and 

 described almost a semicircle, and though they were over 

 four hundred yards distant, they were such big creatures 

 and their gait was so steady that I felt warranted in shoot- 

 ing. On the dry plain I could mark where my bullets 

 fell, and though I could not get a good chance at the bull 

 I finally downed a fine cow; and by pacing I found it to 

 be a little over a quarter of a mile from where I stood when 

 shooting. 



It was about nine miles from camp, and I dared not 

 leave the eland alone, so I stationed one of the gun-bearers 

 by the great carcass and sent a messenger in to Heller, on 

 whom we depended for preserving the skins of the big 

 game. Hardly had this been done when a Wakamba man 

 came running up to tell us that there was a rhinoceros on 

 the hillside three-quarters of a mile away, and that he had 

 left a companion to watch it while he carried us the news. 

 Slatter and I immediately rode in the direction given, fol- 

 lowing our wild-looking guide; the other gun-bearer trotting 

 after us. In five minutes we had reached the opposite hill- 

 crest, where the watcher stood, and he at once pointed out 

 the rhino. The huge beast was standing in entirely open 



