ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 93 



the ground with horn and feet, the great bull rhino, still head 

 toward us, dropped just thirteen paces from where we stood. 



This was a wicked charge, for the rhino meant mischief 

 and came on with the utmost determination. It is not safe 

 to generalize from a few instances. Judging from what I 

 have since seen, I am inclined to believe that both lion and 

 buffalo are more dangerous game than rhino; yet the first 

 two rhinos I met both charged, whereas we killed our first 

 four lions and first four buffaloes without any of them 

 charging, 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 would, 

 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-hitting rifle as 

 my 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 inflicted 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, which 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 expedition of permanent value so far as big 

 game was concerned; and no work at any hour of the day 



