1 86 After Big Game in Central Africa 



At daybreak, on the following day, they came to 

 tell me, to my great satisfaction, that the pebbles of the 

 bank of the pool are spotted with blood. Lest there 

 should be a pursuit, perhaps a long one, my men and 

 I equip ourselves, and take with us food and water. 

 But hardly are we en route, and have entered the 

 plain, than Tchigallo exclaims, " There it is ! "... 

 and we see the rhinoceros lying on our right. It 

 must have died a few seconds after receiving my 

 shot, which, though fired almost at random, was 

 most lucky amid the circumstances. But none 

 the less what a terrible wound it made ! The 

 animal almost facing me, the bullet made a deep 

 furrow along the right jaw and entered the neck, 

 traversing the whole length of the fleshy mass, then 

 pierced the upper part of the heart, and at last fell 

 against the diaphragm, after having twice perforated 

 the skin and followed an almost horizontal line 

 through three feet of flesh and muscle. A few days 

 before an animal was pierced through and through. 

 What more can you expect from a weapon ? But 

 these are only two examples among many of what I 

 have done with my Express No. 1. 



This rhinoceros, which came to kill itself near the 

 camp, was the one we called " the little one," the 

 one which generally drank at the north pool, and 

 on a previous evening was impolite to us by not 

 coming to drink. Though its marks were much 

 smaller than those of the female, it was, nevertheless, 

 a very big animal, differing from the other by a few 

 inches only. 



