HUNTING IN AFRICA 127 



He is not hard to kill for all his thick hide, and, most for- 

 tunate of all, he is not hard to turn, when he does come 

 your way. 



The danger with the rhino is, that in an extraordinary 

 way, he manages to conceal himself in cover, when it would 

 seem impossible, and getting the wind of the hunter or the 

 sefari, as he is taking his siesta in the brush, he stumbles 

 forth blindly and in a hurry going up into the tainted 

 breeze. Your porters' loads go cracking down, and men 

 and totos take to the trees. In this way damage is some- 

 times done. But there are many, many scares for one 

 man really hurt. 



I had once a rhino thrust his head out of a bush on 

 to me, at not more than three or four feet distance. My 

 useless gunboy bolted; and so did the poor beast, when I 

 had to fire quickly in his face. I don't think I hurt him 

 much, I am sure I hope I did not, but he might have crushed 

 me had I not fired, and, of course, to take chances of his 

 turning away at that distance, were not to be thought of. 

 If his temper is up, and he comes right on, a shot from 

 a good rifle will always make him swerve in his charge, and 

 pass you a few yards to one side. If you want to kill him, a 

 shot as he passes will usually do it. Small-bore rifles 

 seem to kill rhino almost as quickly as large. Better use 

 nickel bullets. 



Buffalo are more plentiful than they were a few years 

 ago. The cattle plague almost exterminated them in some 

 districts where it used to be possible to get a fair head. 

 But, at best, buffalo are hard to bag in British East Africa. 

 They frequent the denser thicket country generally near 

 rivers, feed early in the morning, and late in the evening, 

 and at the slightest alarm plunge into scrub, when it is 

 highly imprudent to follow them if wounded. Unwounded, 

 even a cow when followed by her calf, will sometimes 

 charge desperately. If the ground is at all open, and 



