170 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
was an opening in the elephant grass which lined 
the river's edge, and through this the broad stream 
shone like silver in the moonlight. Without warning 
this gap was suddenly filled by a huge black mass— 
a rhino making his way, very leisurely, out of the 
shallow water. On he came with a slow, ponderous 
tread, combining a certain stateliness with his 
awkward strides. Almost directly beneath us he 
halted and stood for an instant clearly exposed to 
our view. This was my opportunity ; I took care- 
ful aim at his shoulder and fired. Instantly, and 
with extraordinary rapidity, the huge beast whirled 
round like a peg-top, whereupon I fired again. This 
time I expected him to fall; but instead of that 
I had the mortification of seeing him rush off into 
the jungle and of hearing him crash through it like 
a great steam-roller for several minutes. I consoled 
myself by thinking that he could not go far, as he 
was hard hit, and that I should easily find him when 
daylight arrived. Mahina, who was in a wild state 
of excitement over the durra janwar (great animal), 
was also of this opinion, and as there was no longer 
any reason for silence, he chatted to me about many 
strange and curious things until the grey dawn 
appeared. When we got down from our perch, we 
found the track of the wounded rhino clearly 
marked by great splashes of blood, and for a couple 
of miles the spoor could thus be easily followed, 
ls 
