In Wildest Africa ^ 



On receipt of my fifth bullet my assailant swerves round 

 and lays himself open to my sixth just as he decides to 

 take flight. Off he speeds now, never to be seen again, 

 though we spend an hour trying to mark him down — 

 a task which it is the easier for us to undertake in that 

 he has fled in the direction in which we have to continue 

 our march. 



Orgeich, in his good-humoured way, remarks drily, 

 '* That was a near thing." 



Such '' near things" may fall to the lot of the African 

 hunter, however perfectly he may be equipped. 



On another occasion, two rhinoceroses that I had not 

 seen until that moment made for me suddenly. In trying 

 to escape 1 tripped over a moss-covered root of a tree, 

 and fell so heavily on my right hip that at first I could 

 not get up again. Both the animals rushed close by me, 

 Orgeich and my men only succeeding in escaping also 

 behind trees at the last moment. 



# * * * * 



To descry one or two rhinoceroses grazing or resting 

 in the midst of the bare velt and to stalk them all by 

 yourself, or with a single follower to carry a rifle for you, 

 is, I really think, as fascinating an experience as any hunter 

 can desire. At the same time it is one of the most 

 dangerous forms of modern sport. An English writer 

 remarks with truth that even the bravest man cannot 

 always control his senses on such occasions — that he is 

 apt to get dazed and giddy. And the slightest unsteadiness 

 in his hand may mean his destruction. He has to advance 

 a long distance on all fours, or else wriggle along on his 



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