THE STORY OF THE RHINOCEROS. 



277 



owing to his engagement with his other enemy, and his somewhat defective 

 vision, did not see him till too late. 



The great bull elephant thundered on like an avalanche, and in an 

 instant more the terrible tusks, nearly seven feet in length in the clear, as 

 I judged, were buried in the side of the redoubtable rhinoceros. 



A shrill squeal of pain from the latter, and he tried in vain to extricate 

 himself. The battle was over. He had slain two elephants, and died game 

 himself. 



I cannot tell you the absorbing interest with which I had watched this 



TWO-HORNED AFRICAN RHINOCEROS. 



curious conflict. True I was an unwilling spectator, for I did not dare to 

 move out of the shadow of the tree, for fear of attracting notice. Now, 

 however, an idea struck me. 



Excited and furious as the old l)ull was, it was probable that the flush of 

 his victory might make him tenfold more dangerous to me. 



The battle had moved so close to me, during the vicissitudes of its 

 varying fortune, that the last elephant, in his fall, had almost brushed the 

 foliage of a bush I stood behind, My resolution was taken in an instant. 



