80 Three Months' Leave in Somali Land. 



hind, keeping under any cover we could see and 

 well to leeward. This went on for about a mile, 

 and he was circling back towards the track again, 

 when I saw, half a mile ahead of him, a string of 

 camels coming down the road. We doubled all 

 we knew, almost in the bare open, only taking 

 heed of the wind, to get to him before he saw the 

 camels. I got up to about eighty yards, panting 

 like a steam engine, just as he saw the camels. 

 He stood side on to me, a little turned away, 

 with his head well away from me, looking at the 

 camels. I could trust the 10-bore this distance, 

 so I took him a little behind the shoulder 

 (shoulder shot no use from his position) and held 

 it as steady as my run would let me. I did not 

 see the effect as the smoke came back in my face, 

 but Jama said " lagga " (hit). I heard two snorts, 

 saw the rhino turn partly my way, put his nose 

 down so that his horn almost touched the ground, 

 and come tearing along at a very smart pace. 

 After about thirty yards his nose went up to nor- 

 mal position, and he passed some fifty yards to 

 my right. I kept the left barrel till he was level 

 with me and fired just in front of his nose. He 

 was going faster than I thought, for the bullet 



