I Had Ridden About Four Miles, Followed, As Usual, By Two Camels, With Water, Ropes, &C. When We Observed In A Perfectly Open Place, About Three Hundred Yards From Us, A Rhinoceros Standing Alone.

Fortunately, there was little or no wind, or, as we were to windward of him, he would instantly have perceived us.

The moment that I saw him, I backed my horse and motioned to my people to retreat out of sight, which they did immediately. Dismounting, I gave them the horse, and, accompanied only by Taher Noor, who carried one of my spare rifles, I took a Reilly No. 10, and we made a circuit so as to obtain the wind, and to arrive upon the lee side of the rhinoceros. This was quickly accomplished, but upon arrival at the spot, he was gone. The black ashes of the recent fire showed his, foot-marks as clearly as though printed in ink, and as these were very close together, I knew that he had walked slowly off, and that he had not been disturbed, otherwise he would have started quickly. He had gone down wind; it would, therefore, be impossible to follow upon his tracks. Our only resource was to make another circuit, when, should his tracks not have crossed the arc, we should be sure that he was to windward. Accordingly, we described half a circle of about five hundred yards. No tracks had crossed our path; the ground was stony and full of hollows, in which grew a few scattered mimosas, while the surface of the earth was covered in many places with dark brown masses of basalt rock. We carefully stepped over this uneven ground, lest some falling stone might give the alarm, and we momentarily expected to be in view of the enemy as we arrived at the edge of each successive hollow. Sure enough, as I glanced down a sudden inclination covered with scorched mimosas, I perceived him standing on the slope beneath a tree within five-and-thirty paces; this was close enough, and I took a steady shot behind the shoulder. The instant that I fired, he whisked sharply round, and looked upon all sides for the cause of his wound. I had taken the precaution to kneel down immediately after firing, and I now crouched close to a rock about two feet high, with which my brown blouse matched exactly, as well as my skin-covered hunting-cap. For a few moments he sought upon all sides for an enemy, during which I remained like a block of stone, but with my finger on the trigger ready for the left-hand barrel should he charge. Taher Noor was lying on the ground behind a stone about five yards from me, and the rhinoceros, having failed to discover us, walked slowly past me within less than ten yards, and gained the summit of the inclination, where the ground was level. As he passed, I reloaded quickly, and followed behind him. I saw that he was grievously wounded, as he walked slowly, and upon arrival at a thickly-spreading mimosa he lay down. We now advanced towards the tree, and I sent Taher Noor round to the other side in order to divert his attention should he be able to rise. This he quickly proved by springing up as I advanced; accordingly, I halted until Taher Noor had taken his stand about eighty paces beyond the tree. The rhinoceros now turned and faced him; this gave me the opportunity that I had expected, and I ran quickly to within thirty yards, just in time to obtain a good shoulder shot, as hearing my footsteps he turned towards me. Whiff! whiff! and he charged vigorously upon the shot; but just as I prepared to fire the remaining barrel, he ran round and round in a narrow circle, uttering a short, shrill cry, and fell heavily upon his side. I threw a stone at him, but he was already dead. Taher Noor returned for the people, who shortly arrived with the camels. I found that the last bullet of quicksilver and lead from my Reilly No. 10 had passed completely through the body, just behind the shoulder. The first shot was also a mortal wound, having broken one rib upon either side, and passed through the posterior portion of the lungs; the bullet was sticking under the skin on the opposite flank. The hide of the rhinoceros is exceedingly easy to detach from the body, as the quality is so hard and stiff that it separates from the flesh like the peel of a ripe orange.

In a couple of hours, the hide had been detached in sections for shields, and sufficient flesh was loaded upon the camel, together with the vicious-looking head, which was secured by ropes upon the saddle. We were en route for the camp, when we suddenly came upon fresh elephant tracks, upon following which, we discovered, after about an hour's march, the spoor of horses on the same path. At once the truth flashed upon me that, although Abou Do had promised to return direct home, he was somewhere in the neighbourhood, and he and his two companions were disturbing the country by hunting. I at once gave up the idea of following the elephants, as, in all probability, these aggageers had pursued them some hours ago. In a very bad humour I turned my horse's head and took the direction for the Settite river. As we descended from the hilly ground, after the ride of about four miles, we arrived upon an extensive plain, upon which I noticed a number of antelopes galloping as though disturbed; a few moments later I observed three horsemen, a camel, and several men on foot, steering in the same direction as ourselves for the river, but arriving from the high ground upon which we had seen the elephants. These were soon distinguished, and I rode towards them with my people; they were the aggageers, with some of the hippopotami hunters.

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