ROOSEVELT HUNTING GROUNDS. 81>' 



secondly, (perhaps) because he holds the latter responsible for being 

 brought to bay. And when once shot, if the wound is not through heart 

 or brain, the beast advances, increasing its pace with the reception of 

 each additional bullet. The last thirty or forty yards is covered like a 

 whirlwind — the swiftest thing on earth — and the momentum sometimes 

 carries the great brute right to the feet of the hunter with a bullet 

 through the heart. 



BLIND CHARGE OF THE BLACK RHINOCEROS. 



On at least two different occasions Mr. Roosevelt dropped his lion 

 as the beast was making one of its whirlwind charges, and upon one 

 occasion saved the life of his pony man. He also experienced the almost 

 equally terrific charg-e of the black rhinoceros — about as resistless, but 

 shorn of some of its dangers from the fact that the rhino's sight is so 

 bad; his charge is therefore literally blind. He gets the "tainted air" of 

 some human "vermin" and forthwith lowers his ugly head and horns 

 and charges in the direction of the obnoxious thing, whether it be a hun- 

 ter's safari, a body of Masai warriors or a company of the King's African 

 Rifles. Everything and everybody scatters before the awful brute, who 

 blunders through the wreck, right on, seldom returning to the same 

 attack. The rhinoceros loves to lurk in dark jungles, or forests, and no 

 other of the big beasts is so given to charging with less provocation 

 than he; among them all he seems the most "possessed of the devil." 

 The white rhinoceros is a most rare animal, as compared with his black 

 brother of East Africa, and few of this species have been shot within 

 recent years. One of the lucky hunters to bring a white rhino to his 

 game bag was Captain Richard Dawson, of the British Coldstream 

 Guards, who made the shooting in July, 1909, in the Sotik district, north- 

 west of Kijabe, where the Roosevelt party was operating at the same 

 time, hoping especially for similar good fortune. 



TERRIFIC ONSLAUGHT OF THE BUFFALO. 



As the rhino's sense of smell is remarkably acute, so is the buffalo's 

 sense of hearing, as well as his eyesight. He selects more awful places 

 in which to hide and quietly listen than does the rhino to dilate his nos- 

 trils for "tainted air." He hides in great papyrus swamps, jungles of 

 elephant grass or dense forests. The lone bull buffalo is a terrible ani- 

 mal and often charges without provocation, and will often hunt the 



