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, 
