268 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



another hundred yards, I came upon the bank of a narrow 

 creek, just as one of the animals was disappearing in the 

 overhanging wood on the opposite bank, and the other was 

 rising out of the water, exposing its broad back as it struggled 

 with mighty efforts to extricate itself out of the sticky mud. 

 A shot, planted in the middle of the back over the loins, fol- 

 lowed by another just behind the head, caused the stricken 

 beast to plunge forward stone dead ; its fore-parts on land, 

 and the hind-quarters and legs in the tide now near the 

 full 



There being no means at hand to get at the fallen beast, 

 I retraced my steps, to find my followers gathered round the 

 carcase of the first, which proved to be a male of the largest 

 size, carrying a well-worn horn of moderate size. The natives 

 with me, who had never before seen a rhinoceros, gazed at it 

 with silent awe as they walked round, examining its strange 

 form and monstrous bulk, and when they heard that another 

 had fallen they ran off in a body in the utmost excitement to 

 view it and compare notes as to age, sex, and size. 



Well pleased with my unexpected success, I had to 

 consider how to secure the trophies, but soon gave up all 

 idea of so doing that day in the absence of axes or bill-hooks, 

 or the means of carriage. We then tied a white cloth on the 

 branches of a tall tree growing on the spot to direct our 

 search next day, and fastened a similar signal on the bank of 

 the creek where the second beast lay, and after a short halt, we 

 proceeded on our way along the eastern side of the clearing, 

 and had nearly regained the beach without further adventure, 

 when I noticed what at first sight looked like a fallen branch 

 lying upon the ground. Something peculiar about the object 

 induced me to approach it cautiously within half-a-dozen 

 paces, and then I made it out to be, as I supposed, a dead 

 python of extraordinary size. As we stood regarding it, it 

 lay motionless, two-thirds of its length glistening in the 

 bright sunshine, and the rest hidden in grass and scrub. To 

 make sure I fired both barrels of the gun, loaded with No. 2 

 shot, into the head and neck, shattering them completely, and 



