Do, whose face wore an expression of agony at finding
that his horse was failing, I quickly obtained a place
between the two brothers, Taher and Rodur Sheriff.
There had been a jealousy between the two parties of
aggageers, and each was striving ;to outdo the other;
thus Abou Do was driven almost to madness at the
superiority of Talier’s horse, while the latter, who
was the renowned hunter of the tribe, was determined
that his sword should be the first to taste blood.
I tried to pass the rhinoceros on my left, so as to
fire close into the shoulder my remaining barrel
with my right hand, but it was impossible to overtake
the animals, who bounded along with undi-
minished speed. With the greatest exertion of man
and horses we could only retain our position within
about three or four yards of their tails—just out of
reach of the swords. The only chance in the race
was to hold the pace until the rhinoceros should
begin to flag. The horses were pressed to the utmost;
but we had already run about two miles, and the
game showed no signs of giving in. On they flew,
—sometimes over open ground, then through low
bush, which tried the horses severely; then through
strips of open forest, until at length the party began to
tail off, and only a select few kept their places. We
arrived at the summit of a ridge, from which the
ground sloped in a gentle inclination for about a mile
towards the river; at the foot of this incline was
thick thorny nabbuk jungle, for which impenetrable
covert the rhinoceros pressed at their utmost speed.
GAME R ETU R N IN G FROM T H E R IV ER . Seepage 403.