from the bush my tent-boy, Sururu, and one of the
Wanderobbo guides, their eyes starting out of their
heads, while they were running as hard as they could,
and endeavoured to dodge behind trees. In a second
the rhinoceros dashed past me, but so quick was its
rush by and disappearance in the bush that I had not
time to shoot it. Irritated by the noise and trouble it
caused, as well as its near proximity, I plunged into
the bush after it. As I sighted it, standing about
twenty feet away under a cedar tree, I heard my name
called in loud and anxious tones by Karscho, my gun-
bearer. He said: “ Turn back, master; Lieutenant
von Hohnel is killed.” I at once turned back and
followed Karscho, who led me to a spot under a tree
about fifty yards away, where lay the apparently lifeless
body of my friend and companion.
Upon hearing the rhinoceros approach, Lieutenant
von Hohnel, who, had he not had his rifle in his hand,
would have contented himself by dodging it, faced the
rush. He saw it approaching him, and waited before
firing until the brute presented a fair mark; but as the
animal approached, the men with him became nervous
and ran across his line of fire, which prevented him
from shooting. Being unable to shoot, on account of
the men, and the beast having arrived at close quarters,
he attempted to step aside and hide behind a tree;
but was unable to do so, for he found this point of
vantage already taken by two or three of the men.
Even when he discovered that he was unable to
obtain shelter, Lieutenant von Hohnel hesitated to fire,
fearing that he would alarm the elephants of which we
were in search. He had already had much experience
with rhinoceroses, and being accustomed to their mad
rush, was perfectly cool when charged by one. To this
coolness and temerity his accident was undoubtedly
due. Even when the rhinoceros was upon him, he
trusted to his agility, and hoped to leap to one side
and avoid the rush of the animal; but he then noticed
that the thick bush would prevent such action; so he
quickly changed his mind, and decided to fire. In
raising his gun to his shoulder, it caught in the branch
of a tree, and at that moment the nose of the rhinoc-
I n T r o u b l e w i t h o u r D o n k e y s
eros struck him in the stomach, and bore him to the
earth. Having thrown him down, the beast trampled
upon him, and struck him once with its nose and once
with its horn.
Fortunately the horn was shbrt, but it was long
enough to make a ghastly wound in Lieutenant von
Hohnel’s thigh, and chip off a bit of the thigh-bone.
While he was lying under the beast, the men who
accompanied him seemed prostrated to such a degree
that they were unable to shoot. One man, however,
Herella, a Soudanese, who, upon the approach of the
rhinoceros, had nimbly climbed a cedar tree, shouted