MY FIRST RHINO. 
129 
and would not let me approach ;>so I had, in self-de¬ 
fence, though not without reluctance, to shoot it. 
This introduction to rhino made me feel very satisfied 
with myself, and I confess to great elation as I regarded 
the larger carcass, which from a short distance looked 
like a mound of brown earth four to five feet in height. 
From it my men hewed off the fore-feet and horns, and 
then removed the head of the calf, whose sprouting 
horns proved it to he about two years old. The skin 
of the mother was in a bad condition, and covered with 
sores common to her kind during the dry season, hut 
the horns were very fair specimens. Before shooting, I 
noticed several rhinoceros-birds perched on her back 
and head, and it was curious to witness their almost 
ludicrous efforts at balancing when she broke into a 
lumbering gallop. These birds, of a light-brown 
colour, are rather larger than thrushes, and feed 
upon the numerous parasites which infest the hides 
of all rhino, so they may be considered as welcome 
attendants. 
I decided to send a fatigue party from Taveta the 
following day to bring in the meat; so, having seen 
the trophies securely lodged in a neighbouring tree, 
I continued my journey. Very soon I viewed a number 
of eland feeding slowly down a slope towards me, 
but they showed signs of having sighted me first and 
stopped short. Feeling sure that any advance would 
have to be made by me, I proceeded to stalk them, and 
after a slow and tedious crawl of about four hundred 
yards through the long coarse grass, managed to get 
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