176 
HUNTING IN THE SOTIK [ch. viii 
work well, and I was pleased to have killed the huge 
brute with the little sharp-pointed bullets of the Spring- 
field, I was confirmed in my judgment that for me 
personally the big Holland rifle was the best weapon for 
heavy game, although I did not care as much for it 
against lighter-bodied beasts like lions. In all we 
galloped four miles after this wounded rhino bull. 
We sent a porter to bring out Heller, and an ox- 
waggon on which to take the skin to camp. While 
waiting for them I killed a topi bull, at two hundred and 
sixty yards, with one bullet, and a wildebeest bull with 
a dozen. I crippled him with my first shot at three 
hundred and , sixty yards, and then walked and trotted 
after him a couple of miles, getting running and stand¬ 
ing shots at from three hundred to five hundred yards. 
I hit him several times. As with everything else I shot, 
the topi and wildebeest were preserved as specimens for 
the Museum, and their flesh used for food. Our porters 
had much to do, and they did it well, partly because 
they were fed well. We killed no game of which we 
did not make the fullest use. It would be hard to 
convey to those who have not seen it on the ground an 
accurate idea of its abundance. When I was walking 
up to this rhino, there were in sight two giraffes, several 
wildebeest bulls, and herds of hartebeest, topi, zebra, 
and the big and little gazelles. 
In addition to being a mighty hunter, and an adept 
in the by no means easy work of handling a large safari 
in the wilderness, Cuninghame was also a good field 
naturalist and taxidermist, and at this camp we got so 
many specimens that he was obliged to spend most of 
his time helping Heller; and they pressed into the work 
at times even Tarlton. Accordingly, Kermit and I 
generally went off by ourselves, either together or 
