34 
ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 
CHAP. 
noon and got a shot at a rhino, half facing me, through a bush; 
but he made off, and though I followed the blood spoor a long 
way I had to give it up and return empty-handed, having seen 
no other game. I have found the truth of Selous’ rule, that 
when once a wounded rhino goes any considerable distance the 
chance of ever getting him is very small. I only remember to 
have once bagged one under such circumstances. In that 
instance the rhino was shot through the shoulder, but the bone 
did not break till it had galloped a mile or more, and I came 
upon him again accidentally, unable to go farther. 
I was able to dry my things here, and made ready for an 
early start the next day in the direction of Mthara 1 (the next 
district to the westward, along the foot of the range) to look 
for elephant spoor. There was thunder and rain again in the 
night The next morning I made an early start, leaving my 
little caravan encamped and taking five men besides my gun- 
bearer and a guide with me. On the way down to the flats 
I saw two pairs of bush buck, and had a good look at one, 
a fine handsome male, very red in colour. I did not interfere 
with them, but was afterwards rather sorry I had not shot 
this one as a specimen of the bush bucks of this part of 
Africa. They are very far from common, and I think I only 
saw one other (a female) on the whole trip. The country here, 
at the northern base of the range, is very different from that 
on the other side, no doubt owing to less rain falling. The 
grass is comparatively short, it is much healthier for stock, 
and more open and easier and pleasanter to get about in. 
After walking for some distance through open grassy flats, 
sprinkled with thorn trees and studded here and there with 
koppies, many of which were clearly small craters, keeping 
parallel with the range, I saw a pair of rhino ahead, in very 
1 This name has been written Msara by German travellers, who cannot pronounce the 
“th,” but the natives themselves sound those letters quite distinctly, just as we do in 
the words “that,” “there,” etc. In the same way the name of the river is really 
Thana, not Tana. 
