154 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
fever, which I combated by copious draughts of hot tea 
and an early turn in to a bed piled with innumerable 
blankets. Not unnaturally, I felt “cheap” and feeble 
the next morning, so remained in camp amusing myself 
by watching the numerous natives, while the others 
went off in search of game. Martin, with a happy 
readiness of thought, told some of the natives they 
might have the meat off a rhino skull B- was 
anxious to keep ; whereupon a dozen of them set to 
work with a will, and in about ten minutes had 
picked the bones perfectly clean—a performance which 
would have occupied our own men for at least two 
hours. 
At about io a.m. some natives reported “two big 
rhinos quite close ; ” so after them I started in all haste, 
lightly equipped in a suit of pyjamas. But, as usual, 
“quite close” meant a long four miles, and my annoy¬ 
ance at having allowed myself to be hoaxed into believ¬ 
ing anything ever could be “ quite close ” was deciding 
me to abandon the hunt, when I sighted them standing 
under a solitary tree in the open plain, attended by a 
half-grown offspring about the size of a big bullock. 
They were awkwardly placed, and after getting to 
within a hundred yards I had to wait some time, as 
the two big ones were actively engaged in carrying 
on an animated flirtation. At length they lay down, 
thus enabling me to crawl within thirty yards, at 
which distance all three rose suddenly and faced me 
—an anxious moment, during which I feared a charge 
or a bolt before I could get in a shot. For about one 
