XV 
RETURN TO LAKE RUDOLPH 
35 
shot, from any point I could reach without either giving them 
our wind or going right up to them. The latter alterna¬ 
tive I was determined not to adopt again to-day ; my nerves 
were not in the form for that now, nor do I think it would 
have been anything but foolhardiness, in my then state, 
to tempt the fates by any further attack on so difficult a 
position. 
Crestfallen, and not a little ashamed of my discomfiture, 
I retraced my steps to where I had left the caravan. After 
making a stupid hash, one is apt to try and console oneself 
w-ith excuses. Was not allowance to be made, I asked myself, 
for the failure of my first attempt since rising, but the other 
day* from a sick-bed, where for three solid months I had been 
suffering from the wounds inflicted by one of these beasts ? 
This was the hardest morning’s work I had yet attempted, 
and I was of course somewhat exhausted by the time (not far 
short of noon) I had established myself under a “ suaki ” bush 
—swarming as usual with little black pesty ants, but a welcome 
screen from the hot sun. A hot swill down and some food 
did more than any attempts at self-justification to put me in 
a better frame of mind, and the fact that I felt no ill effects 
and was able to enjoy a hearty dinner of hippo heart in the 
evening went far to restore confidence in my powers of 
endurance. 
On the following day I made only a short march, and 
camped close to where I had buried the skull of the rhino cow 
on our way up. It was untouched, and now quite clean. It 
was too heavy for us to carry, so I had it tied in a tree to be 
brought on by the main caravan. I was determined to take 
it to the coast, no matter at what cost, thinking that it might 
be of interest to the natural history authorities in England, 
owing to what Von Hohnel had said about this small variety ; 
and I took considerable trouble to get it transported. Those 
only who know the difficulties of carriage in Central Africa, 
where no wheeled vehicles can be used, can appreciate the 
