118 HIPPO AND LEOPARD [ch. v 
order to prevent mischief. In such circumstances it is 
not to be expected that men will take too many chances 
when face to face with a creature whose actions are 
threatening and whose intentions it is absolutely im¬ 
possible to divine. In fact, I do not see how the rhino¬ 
ceros can be permanently preserved, save in very out- 
of-the-way places or in regular game reserves. There 
is enough interest and excitement in the pursuit to 
attract every eager young hunter, and, indeed, very 
many eager old hunters; and the beast’s stupidity, 
curiosity, and truculence make up a combination of 
qualities which inevitably tend to insure its destruction. 
As we brought home the whole body of this rhino¬ 
ceros, and as I had put into it eight bullets, live from 
the Winchester and three from the Holland, I was able 
to make a tolerably fair comparison between the two. 
With the full-jacketed bullets of the Winchester I had 
mortally wounded the animal; it would have died in a 
short time, and it was groggy when it came out of the 
brush in its final charge ; but they inflicted no such 
smashing blow as the heavy bullets of the Holland. 
Moreover, when they struck the heavy bones they 
tended to break into fragments, while the big Holland 
bullets ploughed through. The Winchester and the 
Springfield were the weapons one of which I always 
carried in my own hand, and for any ordinary game I 
much preferred them to any other rifles. The Win¬ 
chester did admirably with lions, giraffes, elands, and 
smaller game, and, as will be seen, with hippos. For 
heavy game like the rhinoceroses and buffaloes I found 
that for me personally the heavy Holland was un¬ 
questionably the proper weapon. But in writing this 
I wish most distinctly to assert my full knowledge of 
the fact that the choice of a rifle is almost as much a 
