122 
ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 
CHAP. 
these animals are numerous, the chances of coming across a 
cantankerous specimen are of course increased in proportion ; 
and a large caravan is, I think, far more likely to give rise to 
the aggravating conditions than a few people passing would be. 
I imagine that, when a rhino is anxious to escape, a long string of 
porters is apt to give it the idea of being surrounded ; but there 
is no doubt that, apart from this, one is occasionally liable to 
be charged. I have myself nowhere met with them in large 
numbers ; four is the most I have ever seen in one party, and 
about ten during a long day’s hunt would be the limit seen in 
any one day, and that rarely. Generally speaking, this kind 
of game is scattered thinly, in parties of two or three or singly, 
over the country ; but under certain conditions, such as scarcity 
of water, they may be collected in particular localities. 
I have taken particular notice of their behaviour in every 
instance among the many opportunities I have had, and I have 
come to the conclusion that they never charge from scent, but 
only from sight. My experience is that a rhino invariably runs 
away on winding human beings (as, I believe, generally speak¬ 
ing, do all animals). I have very many times passed close to 
these creatures, and sometimes had to shout at them to make 
them get out of the way. That they are excessively stupid 
there can be no doubt; and I think it is partly their very 
stupidity that sometimes leads them to make an attack, through 
not realising what the intruder really is; for they will on 
occasion go for any strange object that may approach them, 
—as, for instance, I have seen a large stone charged, which 
one of my men had thrown at a rhino that would not get out 
of our way. A cow with a calf is, as might be expected, more 
likely to prove vicious than another. I do not believe that 
they differ in disposition in different localities, nor do I believe 
that there is more than one species of (so-called) black rhino¬ 
ceros in Africa. 
As Mr. Selous demonstrated long ago, all the different 
patterns of horns may be found in the same district, and 
