200 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
the headman to me. Until late, we three sat on the 
veranda of my house, talking about the rhinoceros 
hunt and the chances of encountering a seladang. 
At last the headman said that he would think about 
the matter and give me his answer the next day. 
I spent the morning with the Sultan, who was 
still laughing about the water-chain at the fire, and 
I returned to my house early in the afternoon. The 
headman and Ali were waiting for me. It was 
decided without further delay that we should go 
to Rawang to capture the rhinoceros. 
The natives at the headman’s kampong were not 
over-anxious to take part in the hunt, and we spent 
several days there, waiting for them to make up 
their minds. It was useless to urge them, and to 
force them, as I had the power to do, would have 
been out of the question. It was a matter of wait- 
ing and working up their enthusiasm. Ali talked 
with them, cleaning my rifle and telling them about 
the “magic” I had performed. Then, after they 
showed signs of being properly impressed, I took 
my gun and began shooting explosive bullets into 
the trunks of trees. They stood about, wide-eyed, 
watching the bullets tear great holes in the trees. 
One evening, two days after our arrival at the 
kampong, the headman came with the word that 
his men had decided that they would like to go 
rhinoceros-hunting with me. “But I can take only 
ten,” I replied. “I want you to come and I will let 
you select nine others—your best men.’”” Now that 
