486 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



cording to the custom of this species. After taking one or 

 two more pictures Kermit edged in, so as to get better 

 ones. Gradually the cow grew alarmed. She raised her 

 head, as these animals always do when interested or ex- 

 cited, twisted her tail into a tight knot, and walked out from 

 under the tree, followed by the calf; she and the calf stood 

 stern to stern for a few seconds, and Kermit took another 

 photo. By this time the cow had become both puzzled 

 and irritated. Even with her dim eyes she could make 

 out the men and the camera, and once or twice she threat- 

 ened a charge, but thought better of it. Then she began 

 to move off; but suddenly wheeled and charged, this time 

 bent on mischief. She came on at a slashing trot, grad- 

 ually increasing her pace, the huge, square lips shaking 

 from side to side. Hoping that she would turn Kermit 

 shouted loudly and waited before firing until she was only 

 ten yards off. Then, with the Winchester, he put a bullet 

 in between her neck and shoulder, a mortal wound. She 

 halted and half wheeled, and Grogan gave her right and 

 left, Kermit putting in a couple of additional bullets as she 

 went off. A couple of hundred yards away she fell, rose 

 again, staggered, fell again, and died. The calf, which was 

 old enough to shift for itself, refused to leave the body, 

 although Kermit and Grogan pelted it with sticks and 

 clods. Finally a shot through the flesh of the buttocks 

 sent it off in frantic haste. Kermit had only killed the 

 cow because it was absolutely necessary in order to avoid 

 an accident, and he was sorry for the necessity; but I was 

 not, for it was a very fine specimen, with the front horn 

 thirty-one inches long; being longer than any other we 

 had gotten. The second horn was compressed laterally, 

 exactly as with many black rhinos (although it is some- 

 times stated that this does not occur in the case of the 

 white rhino). We preserved the head-skin and skull for 

 the National Museum. 



The flesh of this rhino, especially the hump, proved 

 excellent. It is a singular thing that scientific writers seem 



