3 20 THE LAND OF THE LION 



his horn as sharp, everything keeps out of his way, so 

 he lives on, a surly, ill-natured, dangerous, and quite 

 useless life; occupying ground that more useful and 

 beautiful things need. Surely a striking illustration, in 

 the animal world, of that universal truth we are so prone 

 to forget: that easy times do not always make for real 

 usefulness or greatness. 



Only the other day my friend the missionary, Mr. 

 Shauffaker, very nearly lost his life in an encounter with 

 a rhino. He is preeminently a man of peace, and gen- 

 erally rides, more often walks, on his way unarmed. On 

 this occasion he borrowed a mule from another mission- 

 ary, for the road he must take was a long one. As he 

 was passing through some thickish brush he was, with 

 out warning, incontinently charged by a rhino. Such 

 an onslaught is usually made with exceeding swiftness, and 

 though his mule swerved for its life, the cruel horns pinned 

 him. Mr. Shauffaker is a young and very active man. 

 He threw himself off and darted behind a friendly bush, 

 but all in vain. The furious beast crashed through the 

 dense shrubbery, carrying everything before him, and 

 when my friend came to himself, for he was partly stunned, 

 he held in his hand a small remnant of his sun umbrella, 

 while a cloud of dust and trailing brush and the rest of 

 the umbrella decorating his horn showed where the rhino 

 was still furiously charging away. 



During the night rhino seldom troubled the camp. 

 But Mr. Percivale, one of the game wardens appointed 

 by the British East African Government, told me of an 

 extraordinary escape that he had lately had. He had 

 risen about two in the morning, leaving his tent and his 

 companion who was sleeping in it, for a few moments. 

 Rhino had not been common in the neighbourhood for 

 some time. Suddenly in the pitchy blackness, for there 

 was no moon, a dark animal rushed by him. There 



