76 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



time to ram in a couple of cartridges (as she had some distance 

 to come) and fire a quick shot at her chest before she was upon 

 me. She had her head up still when I fired first ; but as she 

 got within about a couple of strides she lowered it for a toss. 

 Having taken my rifle from my shoulder after the first shot — 

 expecting it to turn her, as I have always found happen in 

 such cases — but she coming on straight for me as hard as she 

 could go, I had not time to get it there again, so hastily threw 

 up the butt with my right hand and pulled the left trigger with 

 the muzzle pointing downwards on to her neck and instantly 

 sprang to the right, just in time to let her pass where I had 

 stood, within arm's reach of me, covering my .450 with dirt. 

 But luckily, though she ran right over it, she did not step on it. 

 She ran right on and I after her ; I broke her shoulder with 

 another shot and then put three Martini bullets into her in 

 quick succession till she dropped. This was wasteful, as she 

 would soon have been dead without any of these superfluous 

 shots, but I was angry and would not wait to give her time to 

 die lest she should escape. 



It generally takes a few minutes for these animals to 

 succumb to the effects of even a vital wound. My first 

 shot had struck her a little low for the heart, going into 

 her breast bone. The second barrel had entered the top 

 of her neck just before the hump, and must have disabled 

 her very soon, as it slanted downwards and penetrated deep. 

 Her calf would not leave her for a long time. Twice it 

 got its fore -quarters on its dead mother's back. Squareface 

 and Juma (my gunbearers) threw stones at it, and at last it 

 cleared out. It was old enough to shift for itself This rhino 

 had a very nice horn (27^- inches). Another (probably the 

 male) stood not far off for a long while after all the fuss was over. 

 I have noticed that in such family trios the male parent gener- 

 ally keeps at a respectful distance from the testy mother and 

 her offspring ; and I once witnessed a vigorous assault made by 

 a cow upon her hapless mate, which she prodded unmercifully, 



