VISITORS AND ILLNESS 251 



moment later this approach proved a little too daring. 

 The rhino suddenly looked up and charged without 

 the usual preliminaries. Luckily Philip Percival and 

 I were ready with our guns. At ten yards Phil let 

 drive. The rhino fell about six yards from 

 Mr. Eastman. 



The same night a Hon got into our mules at camp. 

 This was a little more nerve-racking than it sounds. 

 For the mules were tethered right in the middle of 

 the camp between our tents and the boys. The lion 

 somehow got his claw into the jaw of one of them 

 and nearly did for it then and there. 



Luckily the boys waked up with a chorus of howls, 

 at which the surprised lion beat a hasty retreat. 

 The wretched mule broke away in its agony but 

 turned up next day still alive; how it escaped being 

 eaten during the night I cannot say. Its jaws were 

 terribly swollen and lacerated. But it got well 

 eventually. The next night a leopard got into camp 

 but did no damage. 



By this time our visitors began really to feel they 

 were in "Darkest Africa." 



After about two weeks we all got underway for the 

 south again. Near Lesamis Osa and Mr. Eastman 

 devoted some time to one of their favorite sports, 

 that of shooting sand grouse for our camp table. At 

 the waterhole here the birds could be got both night 

 and morning, hundreds of them coming down to 



