138 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



and of a big body being shoved through a dense mass of 

 tropical bush. My companions called to me in loud whis- 

 pers that it was a rhinoceros coming at us, and to "Shoot, 

 shoot." In another moment the rhinoceros appeared, twitch- 

 ing its tail and tossing and twisting its head from side to 

 side as it came toward us. It did not seem to have very 

 good horns, and I would much rather not have killed it; 

 but there hardly seemed any alternative, for it certainly 

 showed every symptom of being bent on mischief. My 

 first shot, at under forty yards, produced no effect what- 

 ever, except to hasten its approach. I was using the Win- 

 chester, with full-jacketed bullets; my second bullet went 

 in between the neck and shoulder, bringing it to a halt. I 

 fired into the shoulder again, and as it turned toward the 

 bush I fired into its flank both the bullets still remaining 

 in my magazine. 



For a moment or two after it disappeared we heard 

 the branches crash, and then there was silence. In such 

 cover a wounded rhino requires cautious handling, and as 

 quietly as possible we walked through the open forest 

 along the edge of the dense thicket into which the animal 

 had returned. The thicket was a tangle of thorn-bushes, 

 reeds, and small, low-branching trees; it was impossible 

 to see ten feet through it, and a man could only penetrate 

 it with the utmost slowness and difficulty, whereas the 

 movements of the rhino were very little impeded. At the 

 far end of the thicket we examined the grass to see if the 

 rhino had passed out, and sure enough there was the spoor, 

 with so much blood alonp both sides that it was evident 



__> 



the animal was badly hit. It led across this space and into 

 another thicket of the same character as the first; and 

 again we stole cautiously along the edge some ten yards 

 out. I had taken the heavy Holland double-barrel, and 

 with the safety catch pressed forward under my thumb, I 

 trod gingerly through the grass, peering into the thicket 

 and expectant of developments. In a minute there was 

 a furious snorting and crashing directly opposite us in the 



