THE OLD DUTCH RIFIE BURSTS. 191 



once camo slowly forward for a nearer inspection. I 

 then shouted to him; but this he did not heed in the 

 slightest. I then sprang up and waved my large ka- 

 ross, shouting at the same time. This, however, only 

 seemed to amuse Borele, for he stood within four yards 

 of us, \vith his horn threatening our momentary de- 

 struction, nor would he wheel about until I threw a 

 log of wood at him. Black rhinoceroses are very dif- 

 ficult to scare when they do not get the wind ; the 

 best way to do so is to hit them with a stone — that is, 

 in the event of the sportsman not washing to fire off 

 his gun. 



Soon after Borele departed four old bull elephants 

 drew near from the south. They were coming right on 

 for the spot where we lay, and they seemed very likely 

 to walk over the top of us. We therefore placed our 

 two big rifles in position, and awaited their forward 

 movement with intense interest. On they came, with 

 a slow and stately step, until w^ithin twenty yards of 

 us, when the leading elephant took it into his head to 

 pass to leeward. We let him come on until he got 

 our wind ; he was then within ten yards of the muz- 

 zles of our heavy-metaled rifles ; on winding us, he 

 tos?ed his trunk aloft, and we instantly fired together. 

 I caught him somewhere about the heart, and my big 

 six-pound rifle burst in Carey's hands, very nearly kill- 

 ing us both. The elephant, on being fired at, wheeled 

 about, and retreated to the forest at top speed. I now 

 directed " Stick-in-the-mud" to make use of his single- 

 barreled twelve to the pound in the event of more ele- 

 phants coming up; and thanking my stars that the old 

 Dutch rifle had not sent us both to the land of the leal, 

 I sat down and ^vatchec. the dark masses of tresis that 

 cut the sky on every side, in the hope of seeing a mass 



