chap. ii. RHINOCEROS. 135 



separated, an unusual, but for me fortunate, occurrence, one 

 going on, the other making towards it, a drop of blood on 

 the latter showing it to be that of the wounded one. I 

 soon, however, got confused in the maze of tracks it had 

 made in standing and walking about, and fancying it had 

 thought of entering, but had changed its mind and gone 

 after the other, I went up to the narrow opening, then 

 only a few yards off, and where it had evidently passed in 

 and out several times, and looked in. At first it was too 

 dark to see, but as I got accustomed to the gloom, I 

 decided that the place was empty, and was in the act of 

 tinning away, muttering, "It's gone on/' when, with a 

 loud grunt, it rushed out, just brushing past me as I 

 shrunk on one side. I ran in and climbed up the nearest 

 tree, hardly a second before it returned in search of me, 

 puffing and snorting, and as it stood listening for some 

 indication of my whereabouts, not three yards from the 

 foot of the tree, I gave it both barrels in the shoulder, 

 and before the smoke had cleared, it had forced its way 

 out, clearing a path for itself, and I could hear it as it 

 galloped away. Coming down, I loaded and again went in 

 pursuit, finding it standing in the open, about fifty yards 

 from the edge of the wood, from the concealment of which 

 I again fired, making it charge, but I dodged behind a 

 tree, and it passed through the smoke, and then stopped 

 and walked back to its former position. Determining to 

 get nearer, I stalked up behind a solitary thorn-tree to 

 within fifteen paces, and then planted another ball, like 

 the last, in the shoulder, bringing it down, but it struggled 

 up in spite of my second barrel, and stood, only looking 

 round at the noise I made in loading. It was beaten at 



