XV RETURN TO LAKE RUDOLPH 351 



shot, from any point I could reach without either giving them 

 our wind or going right up to them. The latter alterna- 

 tive I was determined not to adopt again to-day ; my nerves 

 were not in the form for that now, nor do I think it would 

 have been anything but foolhardiness, in my then state, 

 to tempt the fates by any further attack on so difficult a 

 position. 



Crestfallen, and not a little ashamed of my discomfiture, 

 I retraced my steps to where I had left the caravan. After 

 making a stupid hash, one is apt to try and console oneself 

 with excuses. Was not allowance to be made, I asked m}-self, 

 for the failure of my first attempt since rising, but the other 

 day, from a sick-bed, where for three solid months I had been 

 suffering from the wounds inflicted by one of these beasts ? 

 This was the hardest morning's work I had }'et attempted, 

 and I was of course somewhat exhausted by the time (not far 

 short of noon) I had established myself under a " suaki " bush 

 — swarming as usual with little black pesty ants, but a welcome 

 screen from the hot sun. A hot swill down and some food 

 did more than any attempts at self-justification to put me in 

 a better frame of mind, and the fact that I felt no ill effects 

 and was able to enjoy a hearty dinner of hippo heart in the 

 evening went far to restore confidence in my powers of 

 endurance. 



On the following day I made only a short march, and 

 camped close to where I had buried the skull of the rhino cow 

 on our way up. It was untouched, and now quite clean. It 

 was too heavy for us to carry, so I had it tied in a tree to be 

 brought on by the main caravan. I was determined to take 

 it to the coast, no matter at what cost, thinking that it might 

 be of interest to the natural history authorities in England, 

 owing to what Von Hohnel had said about this small variety ; 

 and I took considerable trouble to get it transported. Those 

 only who know the difficulties of carriage in Central Africa, 

 where no wheeled vehicles can be used, can appreciate the 



