1 86 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 



then proceeded to walk round me in a half-circle. 

 The moment he got wind of me, he whipped round 

 in his tracks like a cat and came for me in a bee- 

 line. Hoping to turn him, I fired instantly ; but 

 unfortunately my soft-nosed bullets merely annoyed 

 him further, and had not the slightest effect on his 

 thick hide. On seeing this, I flung myself down 

 quite flat on the grass and threw my helmet some 

 ten feet away in the hope that he would perceive it 

 and vent his rage on it instead of me. On he 

 thundered, while I scarcely dared to breathe. I 

 could hear him snorting and rooting up the grass 

 quite close to me, but luckily for me he did not 

 catch sight of me and charged by a few yards to my 

 left. 



As soon as he had passed me, my courage 

 began to revive again, and I could not resist the 

 temptation of sending a couple of bullets after him. 

 These, however, simply cracked against his hide 

 and splintered to pieces on it, sending the dry mud 

 off in little clouds of dust. Their only real effect, 

 indeed, was to make him still more angry. He stood 

 stock-still for a moment, and then gored the ground 

 most viciously and started off once more on the 

 semi-circle round me. This proceeding terrified me 

 more than ever, as I felt sure that he would come 

 up-wind at me again, and I could scarcely hope to 

 escape a second time. Unfortunately, my surmise 



