THE RHINOCEROS OF THE LADO 431 



used to describe anything male, from a lion or an elephant 

 to a bustard or a crocodile; "cow" being his expression for 

 the female of these and all other creatures. As Gouvimali 

 came running up to shake hands, his face wreathed in 

 smiles, he exclaimed "G-o-o-d-e morning"; a phrase which 

 he had picked up under the impression that it was a species 

 of congratulation. 



As always when I have killed buffalo I was struck by 

 the massive bulk of the great bull as he lay in death, and 

 by the evident and tremendous muscular power of his big- 

 boned frame. He looked what he was, a formidable beast. 

 Thirty porters had to be sent out to bring to camp the 

 head, hide, and meat. We found, by the way, that his 

 meat made excellent soup, his kidneys a good stew, while 

 his tongue was delicious. 



Next morning Kermit and I with the bulk of the safari 

 walked back to our main camp, on the Nile, leaving Cun- 

 inghame and Heller where they were for a day, to take 

 care of the buffalo skin. Each of us struck off across the 

 country by himself, with his gun-bearers. After walking 

 five or six miles I saw a big rhino three-quarters of a mile 

 off. At this point the country was flat, the acacias very 

 thinly scattered, and the grass completely burnt off, the 

 green young blades sprouting; and there was no difficulty 

 in making out, at the distance we did, the vast gray bulk of 

 the rhino as it stood inertly under a tree. Drawing nearer 

 we saw that it had a good horn, although not as good as 

 Kermit's best; and approaching quietly to within forty 

 yards I shot the beast. 



At the main camp we found that Mearns had made 

 a fine collection of birds in our absence; while Loring 



