iv ON THE YATTA PLATEAU 45 



fore, that this was a splendid opportunity, so I sent 

 Mellauw at his best speed back to camp to tell 

 them to come out quickly and bring their heavy 

 rifles with them to try their luck. 



Meanwhile, I sat down in the shade for 

 about half an hour and awaited their arrival. 

 Presently the old rhino awoke from his reverie, and 

 sauntering leisurely out from under the tree, began 

 to graze away quite peacefully in the open, little 

 dreaming of the fate which was to befall him so 

 soon. By the time S. and Mrs. S. arrived he had 

 got among some ant-hills, which gave us a splendid 

 opportunity of stalking him. We got to within 

 fifty yards of him unobserved, the wind being in the 

 right quarter. Then lying prone under cover of an 

 ant-hill, Mrs. S. waited for a favourable movement 

 to get in a shoulder shot. I inwardly prayed that 

 the wind might not veer round and so reveal our 

 presence to him, as of course he would then have 

 charged down on us like a thunderbolt. At last, 

 after what seemed an age, he presented his shoulder 

 and instantly the rifle rang out and toppled him 

 over, practically stone dead. It was a very well- 

 placed shot, as the great beast barely gave a kick 

 after he fell. 



All the same, the gun-bearers and boys were 

 much too terrified to go up to the prostrate brute, 

 as they are always in deadly fear of a rhino. It 



