CAPTURING THE RHINOCEROS 



The natives stole up to me, and then ran right and left 

 forming a circle around the young one. But it broke 

 through the line and escaped. Next day I returned to 

 the place with one hundred men. The young animal, 

 too, was there, but again managed to elude us. 



Another time we followed the tracks of two animals 

 for over seven hours before we discovered them stand- 

 ing still in the thorny steppe in the light of the setting 

 sun. I killed the mother, but the young one escaped, 

 running from us more quickly than we could follow. 

 I should not have thought of shooting the old female 

 had it not been for the hope I had of capturing her 

 young. I waited a long time near the dead animal, 

 hoping it might return, but in vain. Again the labor of 

 a whole day had beeri lost. 



We returned the next morning and found, not the 

 young animal for which we were looking, but hundreds 

 of vultures and a number of marabous. I ordered my 

 men to secure the horns and to take the most desirable 

 pieces of the flesh to the camp. The evening before I 

 had noticed a few rare birds flying above a ravine. I 

 went to look for them, accompanied by three rifle-carriers. 

 Suddenly I was startled by the sight of the long-sought 

 young rhinoceros, which proved to be a bull. I had not 

 noticed him sooner because he had apparently been 

 bathing in the reddish mud of a rain-pool, and did not 

 stand out from the reddish ground of the steppe. He 

 did not run away, but lowered his head and charged 



147 



