158 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO . cuap. 
goodly fire, made some tea, and roasted a couple 
of quails which I had shot early in the day and 
which proved simply delicious. We then betook 
ourselves to the branches—at least, Mahina and | 
did; Moota was afraid of nothing, and said he 
would sleep on the ground. He was not so full of 
courage later on, however, for about midnight a 
great rhino passed our way, winded us and snorted 
so loudly that Moota scrambled in abject terror up 
our tree. He was as nimble as a monkey for all his 
stoutness, and never ceased climbing until he was 
far above us. We both laughed heartily at his 
extraordinary haste to get out of danger, and 
Mahina chaffed him unmercifully. 
The rest of the night passed without incident, 
and in the early morning, while the boys were pre- 
paring breakfast, I strolled off towards the rocky 
hills which I had seen from Tsavo, and which were 
now only about half a mile distant. I kept a sharp 
look-out for game, but came across nothing save 
here and there a faa and a few guinea-fowl, until, 
just as I was about half-way round the hill, I saw 
a fine leopard lying on a rocky ledge basking in 
the morning sun. But he was too quick for me, 
and made off before I could get a shot; I had not 
approached noiselessly enough, and a leopard is too 
wary a beast to be caught napping. Unfortunately 
I had no more time at my disposal in which to 
