8 Reilly shell. To my surprise,
he soon recovered, and again commenced the attack.
I fired shot after shot at him without apparent effect. The diahbeeah
rocked about upon the waves raised by the efforts of so large an animal;
this movement rendered the aim uncertain. At length, apparently badly
wounded, he retired to the high grass; there he lay by the bank, at
about twenty-five yards' distance, snorting and blowing.
I could not distinguish him, as merely the head was above water, and
this was concealed by the deep shadow thrown by the high grass. Thinking
that he would die, I went to bed; but before this I took the precaution
to arrange a white paper sight upon the muzzle of my rifle, without
which, night shooting is very uncertain.
We had fallen asleep; but in about half an hour we were awoke by another
tremendous splash, and once more this mad beast came charging directly
at us as though unhurt. In another instant he was at the diahbeeah; but
I met him with a ball in the top of his head which sent him rolling over
and over, sometimes on his back, kicking with his four legs above the
surface, and again producing waves which rocked the diahbeeah. In this
helpless manner he rolled for about fifty yards down the stream, and we
all thought him killed.
To our amazement he recovered, and we heard him splashing as he moved
slowly along the river through the high grass by the left bank. There he
remained snorting and blowing, and as the light of the moon was of no
service in the dark shadows of the high grass, we waited for a
considerable time and then went to bed, with the rifle placed in
readiness on deck.
In a short time I heard louder splashing. I again got up, and I
perceived him about eighty yards distant, walking slowly across the
river in the shallows. Having a fair shot at the shoulder, I fired right
and left with the No. 8 Reilly rifle, and I distinctly heard the bullets
strike. He nevertheless reached the right bank, when he presently turned
round and attempted to re-cross the shallow. This gave me a good chance
at the shoulder, as his body was entirely exposed. He staggered forward
at the shot, and fell dead in the shallow flat of the river.
He was now past recovery. It was very cold: the thermometer was 54
degrees Fahrenheit, and the blankets were very agreeable, as once more
all hands turned in to sleep.
On the following morning I made a post-mortem examination.
