xxviii THE BLACK LIST 277 



who showed an apparent wish for my extermination. 

 This was in the Southern Game Reserve, and after the 

 pair had made three charges at increasing proximity, 

 I thought it advisable to conclude my observations 

 from the branches of an exceedingly thorny tree. The 

 wind at the time was very shifty and my opinion is 

 that it was uncertainty as to the safest mode of escape 

 that influenced their actions. However, I most 

 certainly felt that a tree, even a thorny one, was to be 

 preferred to the ground. The conduct of the animal 

 when disturbed is one over which every sportsman can 

 dogmatise to his heart's content. As Mr. Dugmore 

 in his excellent book points out, one is too much 

 inclined to judge by personal experience. One man 

 comes out, sees half-a-dozen rhinos, shoots two, and 

 says that they are quite tame and easily obtainable. 

 His friend comes next season, sees three or four, of 

 which a couple run through his caravan and one puts 

 his foot through his camera. He doesn't shoot a 

 specimen. This man reports that they are very vicious, 

 and not too easy to obtain. I hold one belief, possibly 

 rather far-fetched, that certain sportsmen, greatly 

 affected by exertion in the sun, give out a considerably 

 more pungent odour than others, and that this odour 

 invites a determined charge. In short, that those 

 who sweat the most are charged the most. One 

 thing is absolutely certain, and that is that the species 

 is a nuisance to the sportsman and impossible to the 

 farmer. A kudu or buffalo is being pursued through 

 thick bush ; suddenly there is a horrid snort, and a 

 huge dark body bursts through the trees and dashes 

 by in a manner which is ruin to the nerve and to the 

 steady hand. This is bad enough, but if the animal's 

 course be directed towards one's * shamba ' it is 



