192 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES CHAP. 



furiously and chasing me for a considerable distance. 

 This incident occurred in 1880. In 1883, when 

 hunting on horseback just outside the " fly " country 

 on the upper Sabi river, I one day came across an 

 old bull black rhinoceros which, though it ran off in 

 the first instance as soon as it saw or scented me, 

 turned and chased me smartly, with the usual 

 accompaniment of snorts and puffs, as soon as my 

 horse drew level with it. It chased me certainly for 

 over a hundred yards, and pressed my horse pretty 

 hard. As it swerved off and stopped snorting, I 

 brought my horse round, and dismounting, gave it 

 a shot in the ribs; but on galloping up near it again, 

 it gave me another smart chase. Two more bullets, 

 however, finished this plucky old animal. 



Besides these two, I can only call to mind eight 

 other black rhinoceroses which I chased on horse- 

 back, and none of these showed any fight at all, but 

 kept continually sheering off as the horse drew level 

 with them, making it almost impossible to get any- 

 thing but a stern shot. In November 1874 I chased 

 a black rhinoceros bull out into an open expanse 

 of ground near Thamma-Setjie, on the old waggon 

 road to the Zambesi, and in trying to get a broad- 

 side shot, rode it round and round in a large circle, 

 until it presently stood still with its mouth open, 

 evidently completely done. Even when I dis- 

 mounted and shot it at close range I only had an 

 old smooth-bore gun it never attempted to charge. 

 Several times, when hunting elephants in the 

 early 'seventies of the last century, black rhino- 

 ceroses rushed snorting either close in front of 

 or close behind myself and my small party of 

 Kafirs. They had undoubtedly been alarmed by 

 hearing or smelling us, and were, I think, trying 

 to get out of danger ; but I believe that, should a 

 rhinoceros get the wind of the foremost man 

 amongst a long string of porters, and on starting 



