Ill CAMPING AT MOUNT KENIA 75 



and I was much amused by my men's cautious efforts to drive 

 it off, shouting and throwing stones at it from behind the 

 shelter of trees. I am dead against shooting anything I do 

 not want unless forced to do so in self-defence. The cow was 

 very fat, and my men (I had several with me) carried away 

 as much as they could stagger under. As we were all hungry 

 I made a fire, while they skinned her, and we had a snack of 

 toasted liver. Rhino liver is considered a great delicacy by 

 Swahilis ; they say it is like fowl's liver. 



Farther on we passed among five more rhino — two cows, 

 each with a calf, and a bull — besides one or two more odd 

 ones I had seen in the distance during the day. I also noticed 

 some giraffe and a good many oryx, some Grant's gazelle, and 

 a few impala ; but there was nothing like the quantity of game in 

 this direction as the other way, the veldt being drier. We got 

 somewhat out of our course going back, owing to my men insist- 

 ing on keeping more to the right than I was steering, and my 

 giving in to them in spite of my own strong opinion that I 

 was right, as it proved I had been ; so that we struck our 

 spruit a good deal too high up and did not reach camp till 

 dusk. Altogether it had been a hard day ; for we had walked 

 fast almost continuously from daylight till dark : a good thirty 

 miles we must have covered, and under a very hot sun. As 

 there were clearly no more elephants in the neighbourhood, I 

 returned to my " elephant camp " at Mthara the next day, 

 seeing several rhinos on the way. When within less than an 

 hour's walk of camp, I passed near one with a young calf 

 lying in the open a little way to my left. I stood and looked 

 at her, and, noticing she had a good horn, was considering 

 whether to go and shoot her, as it was within easy reach of 

 camp for sending to fetch the meat, but had not yet taken my 

 .577 double, which had been carried in its cover as I had no 

 intention of shooting that day, when she got up and made 

 straight for me. Laying my single .450 down in front of me, 

 while my man hurriedly tore the other rifle out, I had just 



