RHINOCEROS 
89 
CH. IV] 
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 instead 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 shooting. 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 hill-side 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 immedi¬ 
ately rode in the direction given, following 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 country, although there were a few scattered trees 
of no great size at some little distance from him. We 
left our horses in a dip of the ground and began the 
approach ; I cannot say that we stalked him, for the 
approach was too easy. The wind blew from him to 
us, and a rhino’s eyesight is dull. Thirty yards from 
where he stood was a bush four or five feet high, and 
though it was so thin that we could distinctly see him 
