COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. 163 



under a fit of rage, as might be supposed, but is merely exulting in 

 his strength, and giving vent to the exuberence of health and violent 

 physical exertion. 



The rhinoceros is a good aquatic, and will voluntarily swim for 

 considerable distances. It is very fond of haunting the river-banks 

 and wallowing in the mud, so as to case itself with a thick coat of 

 that substance, in order to shield itself from the moscj[uitoes and 

 other mordant insects which cluster about the tender places, and 

 drive the animal, thick-skinned though it may be, half-mad with 

 their constant and painful bites. 



The skin of the rhinoceros is of very great thickness and 

 strength, bidding defiance to ordinary bullets, and forcing the hunter 

 to provide himself with balls which have been hardened with tin 

 Dr solder. The extreme strength of the skin is well known to the 

 African natives, who manufacture it into shields and set a high 

 value on these weapons of defense. 



A REMARKABLE SHOT. 



That Col. Roosevelt has a keen eye and is a remarkable shot 

 will be shown by the fact that he shot a giraffe dead, with a bullet 

 through the neck, at a distance of 400 yafds. This feat he per- 

 formed, incidental to bagging another giraffe. 



Wherefore the former President was proclaimed the most 

 famous shot who ever hunted in East Africa, his feat being the 

 more remarkable because the giraffe he shot at 400 yards was in 

 full gallop when he pulled the trigger. "Bwana Tumbo" made this 

 record while hunting with his son and five porters a few miles south 

 of Machakos. 



The buffalo shot by former President Roosevelt was one of the 

 typical and common South African species, which was equal in size 

 to the Indian or Water Buffalo, the largest of which stand six feet 

 high at the withers and has a spread of horns sometimes exceeding 

 six feet. The South African type has a bluish-black hide, in old age 

 almost completely hairless. Like the buffalo of the American plains 

 >he African species has upward-curving horns, but with a greater 



