ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 
91 
they went at a run, one or two of the cows in the first hurry 
and confusion skipping clean over the backs of others that 
got in their way—a most unexpected example of agility in 
such large and ponderous animals. After a few hundred 
yards they settled down to the slashing trot which is their 
natural gait, and disappeared over the brow of a hill. 
The morning was a blank, but early in the afternoon 
we saw the eland herd again. They were around a tree in 
an open space, and we could not get near them. But in¬ 
stead of going straight away they struck off to the right and 
described almost a semicircle, and though they were over 
four hundred yards distant, they were such big creatures 
and their gait was so steady that I felt warranted in shoot¬ 
ing. On the dry plain I could mark where my bullets 
fell, and though I could not get a good chance at the bull 
I finally downed a fine cow; and by pacing I found it to 
be a little over a quarter of a mile from where I stood when 
shooting. 
It was about nine miles from camp, and I dared not 
leave the eland alone, so I stationed one of the gun-bearers 
by the great carcass and sent a messenger in to Heller, on 
whom we depended for preserving the skins of the big 
game. Hardly had this been done when a Wakamba man 
came running up to tell us that there was a rhinoceros on 
the hillside three-quarters of a mile away, and that he had 
left a companion to watch it while he carried us the news. 
Slatter and I immediately rode in the direction given, fol¬ 
lowing our wild-looking guide; the other gun-bearer trotting 
after us. In five minutes we had reached the opposite hill- 
crest, where the watcher stood, and he at once pointed out 
the rhino. The huge beast was standing in entirely open 
