428 THE LAND OF THE LION 
a few yards beyond it. The rhino had dashed squeak- 
ing along its very edge and had noisily died there. How 
was it possible that a bull under such circumstances could 
have lain all the time hidden, and make no sign? 
I thought the man was certainly mistaken, and owing 
to the complete blackness of the place, had taken a rock 
for a buffalo bull. 
Brownie thought so, too, for I saw him smile incredu- 
lously as he noiselessly drew alongside the Wakamba, and 
looked close into the chasm where the other was pointing. 
Presently he too saw the hiding beast and tried to make me 
see it. I looked and looked, but all was dark. Then as 
my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, I did see a big 
shadow of an animal standing against a rock right under 
my feet, but which was head and which was rump I could 
not see. 
I never fire a first shot at any dangerous beast till I 
know where I am shooting. It is a good rule to remem- 
ber and has saved both my men and me trouble many a 
time, and I observed it now, though the temptation to 
break it on this my last chance at a buffalo was, I confess, 
very strong. As I waited, the shadow vanished without 
a sound, and presently, higher up the donga, I heard the 
heavy body crashing through the scrub. Through the 
tremendously high and matted grass, I made the best run- 
ning I could, and in a couple of hundred yards reached 
a place where the donga widened and shallowed, as its 
course ascended sharply to the mountain above us. I 
was just in time to see above the long grass the heavy points 
of his horns and the line of his black back, no more, as he 
reached the level I stood on. He was going fast, his butt 
almost towards me. In another few yards the grass tangle 
would completely hide him. I was puffing from my run, 
my eyes all dimmed by sweat-covered glasses, but I 
pulled myself together, for well 1 knew it was now or 
