THE STORY OF AN OUTING 



and buffaloes may be and frequently are encountered in 

 numbers, whereas lions are found singly or in twos or 

 threes; it is seldom that large bands are encountered, 

 and then usually when they are changing from one 

 hunting-ground to another.' A charging elephant is 

 ponderously irresistible, and his vitality preserves his 

 destructive force long after he has received fatal vital 

 shots. A buffalo is a very large animal, much larger 

 than the American bison, seems to have an element of 

 vindictiveness, and also possesses great vitality. He will 

 live for hours shot through one lung, and may recover, 

 and shot through both will live long enough to wreak 

 vengeance upon a sportsman. In order to cripple 

 elephant, buffalo, lion, or rhino you must break bones, 

 at least a leg or shoulder. A disturbed rhino makes a 

 rush in the direction in which he happens to be headed, 

 and takes everything in his way. His desire seems to 

 be to escape. He resents intrusion, is stupid, compara- 

 tively, in locating his danger, and strikes out wildly. He 

 does not pursue one, as a rule, and is comparatively easy 

 to avoid, and yet he is capable of anything and every- 

 thing, and you never can tell what he will do. 



An incident that occurred while I was in British East 

 Africa illustrates the eccentricities of the rhino. Two 

 sportsmen were in their tent resting after a hunt when 

 suddenly, without premonition, a rhino charged the 

 tent, of course knocking it down and injuring one of the 

 sportsmen severely; the other managed to get out, get 

 his gun, and shoot him. The rhino had no object what- 

 ever in charging that tent; the probabilities are he was 

 passing near by, came within range so as to get the 

 human scent, which to him meant danger, and imme- 



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