154 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
nullah, I happened to notice that the sandy bottom 
sparkled here and there where the sunbeams pene- 
trated the dense foliage. This at once filled my 
head with thoughts of precious stones, and as the 
spot looked likely enough, I started to dig vigorously 
at the gravel with my hunting knife. After a few 
minutes of this work, I came across what I at first 
took to be a magnificent diamond sparkling in the 
damp sand: it was about half an inch long, and its 
facets looked as if they had been cut by an 
Amsterdam expert. I tested the stone on my watch 
glass and found that it cut my initials quite easily, 
and though I knew that quartz would do this as 
well, it did not seem to me to have either the general 
appearance or angles of any quartz I had ever seen. 
For a moment or two I was greatly delighted with 
my discovery, and began to have rosy dreams of a 
diamond mine; but I am sorry to say that on closer 
examination and testing I was forced to the con- 
clusion that my find was not a diamond, though 
unlike any other mineral I had ever come across. 
My hopes of rapidly becoming a millionaire having 
thus been dashed to the ground, we proceeded on 
our way, getting further and further into the depths 
of a gloomy forest. A little distance on, I noticed 
through a break in the trees a huge rhino standing 
in full view near the edge of a ravine. Unfor- 
tunately he caught sight of us as well, and before | 
