turn towards the white horses, and thus expose his
flank * this he did immediately, and firing w,ell,
exactly at the shoulder, I dropped him as though
stone dead. Taher Noor shouted, f Samme durrupto !’
(well shot); the rhinoceros lay kicking upon the
ground, and I thought he was bagged. Not a bit
of i t ! the No. 24 bullet had not force to break
the massive shoulder-bone, but had merely paralysed
it for the moment; up he jumped, and started off
in full gallop. Now for a hunt! up the hill he
started, then obliquely; he chose a regular rhinoceros
path, and scudded away, Tetel answering to
the spur and closing with him ; through the trees;
now down the hill over the loose rocks, where he
gained considerably upon the horse. ‘Easy down
the hill, gently over the stones, Tetel/ and I took
a pull at the reins until I reached the level ground
beneath, which was firm and first-rate. I saw the
rhinoceros pelting away about a hundred and twenty
yards ahead, and spurring hard, I shot up to him at
full speed until within twenty yards, when round he
came with astonishing quickness, and charged straight
at the horse. I was prepared for this, as was my
horse also; we avoided him by a quick turn, and
again renewed the chase, and regained our position
within a few yards of the game. Thus the hunt
continued for about a mile and a half, the rhinoceros
occasionally charging, but always cleverly avoided by
the horse. T&tel seemed to enjoy the fun, and
hunted like a greyhound. Nevertheless I had not
been able to pass the rhinoceros, who had thundered
along at a tremendous pace whenever I had attempted
to close; however, the pace began to tell
upon his wounded shoulder; he evidently went lame,
and, as 1 observed at some distance before us the
commencement of the dark-coloured rotten ground,
I felt sure that it would shortly be a case of ‘stand
still/ In this 1 was correct, and, upon reaching
the deep and crumbling soil, he turned sharp round,
made a clumsy charge that I easily avoided, and he
stood panting at bay. Taher Noor was riding
Gazelle ; this was a very timid horse and was utterly
useless as a hunter, but, as it reared and plunged
upon seeing the rhinoceros, that animal immediately
turned towards it with the intention of charging.
Riding Tetel close to his flank, I fired both barrels
of the little Fletcher into the shoulder; he fell to
the shots, and, stretching out his legs convulsively,
he died immediately.”
This was a capital termination to the hunt; as I
had expected the death of my good horse Tetel, when
the first rhinoceros had so nearly horned him. The
sun was like a furnace, therefore I rode straight to
camp, and sent men and camels for the hides and
flesh. As I passed the body of the first rhinoceros,
I found a regiment of vultures already collected
around it, while fresh arrivals took place every
minute, as they gathered from all quarters ; they had
already torn out the eyes, and dragged a portion of
flesh from the bullet-wound in the shoulder ; but the