302 WILD UEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



the sport. It is quite impossible to determine the exact amount 

 of risk in the encounter with any animal, as they vary in character 

 and pugnacity. The black rhinoceros is generally accepted as the 

 most vicious, and the huge white variety the most harmless, but 

 the uncertainty in the sport is the charm to the hunter, and I will 

 relate an incident that befell a friend of mine, which will exhibit 

 this uncertainty in a striking manner. 



Mr. Oswell was one of the early Nimrods in South Africa, at 

 the same time that the renowned Roualeyu Gordon Gumming was 

 paving the way for fresh adventures. There never was a better 

 sportsman or more active follower of the chase than Oswell ; he 

 had gone to Africa for the love of hunting and adventure, at a 

 time when the greater portion was unbroken ground. He was the 

 first to bring Livingstone into notice when he was an unknown 

 missionary, and Oswell and Murray took him with them when 

 they discovered the Lake N'game". He had a favourite double- 

 barrelled gun made by Purdey. This was a smooth-bore No. 10. 

 specially constructed for ball. Although a smooth-bore, it was 

 sighted like a rifle, with back-sights; the gun weighed 10 Ibs. 

 The owner most kindly lent me this useful weapon when I first 

 went to Africa in 1861, therefore I can attest its value, and the 

 hard work that it had accomplished. A portion of the walnut stock 

 had been completely worn away to the depth of an inch by the tear- 

 ing friction of the wait-a-bit thorns, when carrying the gun across 

 the saddle in chase at full speed through the hooked-thorn bushes. 

 The stock had the appearance of having been gnawed by rats. 



At the time of Oswell's visit, the country was alive with wild 

 animals, all of which have long since disappeared before the advance 

 of colonial enterprise and the sporting energy of settlers. There 

 was a particular locality that was so infested with rhinoceroses that 

 Oswell had grown tired of killing them, and he passed them un- 

 noticed unless he met some specimen with an exceptional horn. 

 He was riding a favourite horse, which had been his constant com- 

 panion in countless shooting incidents, and he happened to remark 

 a large white rhinoceros standing in open ground alone. This 

 animal possessed a horn of unusual length, which made the owner 

 a worthy object of attention. 



Oswell immediately rode towards it. The animal took no 

 notice of his approach until he arrived within about 100 yards. 

 Tiie Rhinoceros simus (white species) is not considered dangerous, 

 therefore he had approached without the slightest caution or hesi- 

 tation. I forget whether he fired ; but I well remember that the 

 beast calmly confronted the horse, and slowly, but determinedly, 



