64 THE GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS. 



' Rhino,' as we always called them for the sake of brevity, and as I shall henceforth call them 

 in this narrative. 



We had tracked a wounded bull Buffalo into a large and very thick covert, into which 

 it was useless to follow him with any idea of getting a shot. The three guns therefore went 

 on ahead, and took up their positions at the other end of the covert, while the pad Elephants 

 were ordered to form line and beat steadily through the jungle. After waiting a long time at 

 my post, I heard some large animal crashing through the reeds, and as the line of beaters 

 advanced,- the waving of the grass betrayed its movements. It came on very slowly, occa- 

 sionally stopping for some time to listen, and again making a cautious advance. I remained 

 still as death, but I was in a great state of anxiety lest my Elephant should become uneasy, 

 and give the alarm. Fortunately, he remained silent, and at length the ' Rhino,' anticipating 

 no danger ahead, and pressed by the steadily advancing line of Elephants behind him, poked 

 his ugly head out of the reeds within twenty yards of me. I could only see his snout and his 

 horn, and aimed above the latter for his forehead. I either took a bad aim, or my Elephant 

 moved slightly as I fired, for, as I aftenvards found, my bullet merely grazed the snout, 

 cutting a deep furrow along the base of the horn. As the ' Rhino ' wheeled round, I gave 

 him another bullet in the centre of his ribs, and he rushed back into the reeds and through 

 the beaters with an angry grunt. 



I was using a 12-bore rifle with hardened spherical bullets, and seven drams of powder, so 

 I felt certain that the ' Rhino ' was mortally wounded, and accordingly two or three of the 

 beaters were ordered to follow his track. They had not gone far before they shouted that 

 they had found him, and on hastening to the spot, I had the satisfaction of contemplating 

 my first ' Rhino.' My second bullet had struck him in the ribs, and passing forward into 

 his luno-s, had caused death by suffocation. The huge animal lay with his legs doubled under 

 him, as if fast asleep, and it required some exertion on the part of one of our largest Elephants 

 to roll him over. The horn was an average- sized one, thick at the base, but not very 



long. 



Although it was a blazing hot day, we celebrated the event with a glass of whisky, and 

 then superintended the cutting off his head and the removal of the shields, while a number 

 of long strips were cut from his hide, to be afterwards made into whips. We selected a few 

 choice pieces of meat for ourselves, and in a very short time scores of villagers from the 

 neighbourhood flocked to the spot, delighted at the chance of obtaining a good supply of 

 flesh. 



I took the measurements of this ' Rhino ' very carefully : they are those given 

 above. 



Another ' Rhz'no ' was wounded during the afternoon, but we lost it among high reeds, 

 and a savage bull Buffalo created a divertissement, which prevented us from continuing our 

 search. 



Next morning D. was unable to go out shooting, so S. and I went to look for the 

 animals wounded yesterday, at least two Buffaloes having been severely hit in addition to the 

 ' Rhino.' We were not long in finding a cow Buffalo, which had fallen in a sandy nullah; 



