414 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



bull, with a fair horn; much the biggest bull we had yet 

 seen; and with head up and action high, the sun glinting 

 on his slate hide and bringing out his enormous bulk, he 

 was indeed a fine sight. I waited a moment for Kermit 

 to snap him. Unfortunately the waving grass spoiled the 

 picture. Then I fired right and left into his body, behind 

 the shoulders, and down he went. In color he seemed 

 of exactly the same shade as the common rhino, but he 

 was taller and heavier, being six feet high. He carried a 

 stout horn, a little over two feet long; the girth at the base 

 was very great. 



Leaving the gun-bearers (with all our water) to skin the 

 mighty beast, Kermit and I started for camp; and as we 

 were rather late Kermit struck out at a great pace in front, 

 while I followed on the little ambling mule. On our way 

 in we passed the elephants, still standing where we had 

 left them in the morning, with the white cow herons flying 

 and walking around and over them. Heller and Cun- 

 inghame at once went out to camp by the skin and take 

 care of it, and to bring back the skeleton. We had been 

 out about eleven hours without food; we were very dirty 

 from the ashes on the burnt ground; we had triumphed; 

 and we were thoroughly happy as we took our baths and 

 ate our hearty dinner. 



It was amusing to look at our three naturalists and 

 compare them with the conventional pictures of men of 

 science and learning especially men of science and learn- 

 ing in the wilderness drawn by the novelists a century 

 ago. Nowadays the field naturalist who is usually at all 

 points superior to the mere closet naturalist follows a pro- 

 fession as full of hazard and interest as that of the explorer 



