A RIDE THROUGH RHINO COUNTRY 321 



was a crash, down went the tent; then another crash, 

 followed by loud cries from his men. He rushed back 

 to find his friend crawling out unhurt from the wreckage, 

 all bespattered with jam. He was scarcely awake, and 

 quite at a loss to know what had happened. "Is it a 

 tornado?'* said he. Mr. Percivale's bed, from which 

 he had risen but a moment before, was smashed to atoms. 

 A tin of jam, crushed by the great beast's foot, had ex- 

 ploded like a bomb shell, spattering jam over everything. 

 He called to his men and was answered by groans. One 

 of them was badly trampled, and another bundled up in 

 his little tent had been carried bodily off for twenty yards. 

 The rhino's horn had cut a deep gash in the man's forehead, 

 otherwise he was unhurt. 



I have known of a rhino at night taking both sides 

 of a Massai munyata in full charge, and scattering men, 

 women, children and cattle right and left like a swarm 

 of angry bees. But these are the only instances in which 

 I have heard of a night attack by them. Were such 

 things common, sefari life would be much less pleasant 

 than it is, for neither their bomas nor campfires would 

 prove any protection. 



When I was near Fort Hall three years ago, a Gov- 

 ernment surveyor was run down by a rhino, and so badly 

 trampled and horned that he died in two days. He had 

 been warned not to go unarmed, but thought the chances 

 of meeting a dangerous beast so slight that he could 

 dispense with the bother of a rifle! 



I may as well here tell my own experiences with the 

 rhino. I shot the first two rhino I came across; they 

 carried fairly good horns, and I shot them without any 

 trouble. One bullet was enough for each, and each fell 

 to a chest shot rather low down and full in front; a sure 

 place to kill, I found it, though it is not usually counted so. 

 Hit here by a solid .450 Cordite rifle, they wheeled at right 



