704 A RHINOCEROS HUNT. 



wind, his heels dashing against the flanks of his horse, to which 

 he shouted in his excitement to urge him to the front, while he 

 leaned forward with his long sword, in the wild energy of the 

 moment, as though hoping to reach the game against all possi- 

 bility. Now for the spurs ! And as these, vigorously applied, 

 screwed an extra stride out of Tetel, I soon found myself in the 

 ruck of men, horses, and drawn swords. There were seven of 

 us, and passing Abou Do, whose face wore an expression of 

 agony at finding that his horse was failing, I quickly obtained 

 a place between the two brothers, Taher and Roder Sherrif. 

 There had been a jealousy between the two parties of aggageers 

 and each was striving to outdo the other ; thus Abou Do was 

 driven to madness at the superiority of Taher's horse, while the 

 latter, who was the renowned hunter of the tribe, was deter- 

 mined that his sword should be the first to taste blood. I tried 

 to pass the rhinoceros on my left, so as to fire close into the 

 shoulder my remaining barrel with my right hand, but it was 

 impossible to overtake the animals and they bounded along with 

 undiminished speed. With the greatest exertion of men and 

 horses we could only retain our position within three or four 

 yards of their tails, just out of reach of the swords. The only 

 chance in the race was to hold the pace until the rhinoceroses 

 should begin to flag. The horses were pressed to the uttermost, 

 but we had already run about two miles and the game showed 

 no signs of giving in. On they flew : sometimes over open 

 ground, or through low brush, which tried the horses severely ; 

 then through strips of open forest, until at length the party be- 

 gan to tail off and only a select few kept their places. We ar- 

 rived at the summit of a ridge from which the ground sloped 

 in a gentle inclination for about a mile towards the river ; at 

 the foot of this incline was a thick, thorny, nabbuk jungle, for 

 which impenetrable covert the rhinoceroses pressed at their ut- 

 most speed. Never was there better ground for the finish of a 

 race ; the earth was sandy but firm, and as we saw the winning- 

 post in the jungle that must terminate the hunt, we redoubled 

 our exertions to close with the unflagging game. Sulieman's 

 horse gave in. We had been for twenty minutes at a killing pace. 

 Tetel, although not a fast horse, was good for a distance, and he 

 now proved his power of endurance, as I was riding at least 



