202 IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA CHAP. 



him, so, as the place where the brute lay was rather 

 close to our line of march, I halted the safari and 

 had B.'s hammock put into a safe place beside a big 

 tree before we set off to stalk him. 



The rhino was resting under the shade of a 

 euphorbia, and we had to make a half -circle round 

 him so that we might have him to windward of us 

 and thus be able to get up to close quarters without 

 being discovered. There was a convenient clump 

 of bush, at a distance of about forty yards from the 

 drowsy brute which I hoped we should be able to 

 reach without giving him the alarm. We got safely 

 to this bit of covert, but found that the ground rose 

 between us and the rhino, so that we could only see 

 the long ridge of his back above the crest. We 

 accordingly stalked on a little higher up the slope, 

 just beyond the bushes, and then to our astonish- 

 ment saw not one rhino but a family party of three ! 

 By some means, too, they had all got disturbed, and 

 our friend with the long horns, whom we had hoped 

 to find sleepily killing time, was all on the alert, head 

 and tail fully cocked, ready either to charge an enemy 

 or flee down into the valley towards the river. 



I signed to Mrs. B. to fire, and she knelt down, 

 took a steady aim, and plumped a bullet straight into 

 him, for I plainly heard the smack of the lead as it 

 struck his tough hide. He immediately whirled 

 round and disappeared down the slope on the far 



