from the plain in which we now were, only by a low range of hills.
Speelman himself came forward immediately to give me an account
of all his feats; and was, in his manners, so animated and lively,
that he might have been ascribed to any tribe rather than to that of
the Colonial Hottentots. As the hunting of a rhinoceros is attended
with danger, he certainly had some reason to be proud, when he. had
in one day killed two of these formidable animals.
His account of the affair was, that when they came to the place
where the Bushmen expected to find them, the animals had changed
their ground; but, that it was not long before they discovered no
fewer than four, feeding quietly on the bushes in another part of the
plain. They advanced towards the creatures, at various distances,
according to each man’s courage, but Speelman came the first within
shot, and wounded one mortally. The other people coming up, fired
till it had received seven halls ; when it fell dead. He then went in
pursuit of the other animals, which had fled over the hills ; and having
discovered one in the middle of the open plain, approached fortunately
unperceived, and brought it down with a single ball: nor
did he fail with exultation to remark, that he had on that day fired
off his gun but twice, and at each time had killed a rhinoceros.
This was not the first rhinoceros which Speelman had shot in the
course of his life, and to prove his knowledge of these animals, and
to save me the trouble of asking him questions, he voluntarily
communicated all that he had learnt by his own experience.
Their smell, said he, is so keen and nice, that they know, even at a
great distance, whether any man be coming towards them; and on
the first suspicion of this, take to flight. Therefore it is only by
approaching them against the wind, or from the leeward, that the
hunter can ever expect to get within musket shot. Yet in doing this,
he must move silently and cautiously, so as not to make the least noise
in the bushes, as he passes through them ; otherwise their hearing
is so exceedingly quick, that they would instantly take alarm and
move far away to some more undisturbed spot. But the dangerous
part of the business is, that when they are thus disturbed, they
sometimes become furious and take it into their head to pursue their
enemy; and then, if they once get sight of the hunter, it is impossible
for him to escape, unless he possess a degree of coolness and
presence of mind, which, in such a case, is not always to be found.
Yet if he will quietly wait till the enraged animal make a run at him,
and will then spring suddenly on one side to let it pass, he may gain
time enough for re loading his gun, before the rhinoceros get sight
of him again; which, fortunately, it does slowly and with difficulty.
The knowledge of this imperfection of sight, which is occasioned
perhaps by the excessive smallness of the aperture of the eye (its
greatest length being only one inch) in proportion to the bulk of the
animal, encourages the hunter to advance without taking much pains
to conceal himself; and, by attending to the usual precautions just
mentioned, he may safely approach within musket-shot. This creature
seems to take as much pleasure in wallowing in the mud, as the
hog. As far as my own experience enables me to speak, I can attest
the correctness of Speelman’s remarks.
The present animal was a male of large size, but being nearly
cut up when I arrived, I was unable to ascertain its particular dimensions.
No hair whatever was to he seen upon it, excepting at the
edge of the ears, and on the extremity of the tail. Our bullets, though
cast with an admixture of tin to render them harder, were flattened,
or beat out of shape, by striking against the bones; but those which
were found lodged in the fleshy part, had preserved their proper
form; a fact which shows how little the hardness of this creature’s
hide corresponds with the vulgar opinion, of its being impenetrable
to a musket-ball. It is however, to be admitted that bullets of pure
lead, fired from too great a distance, or with too weak a charge of
powder, will sometimes fail to penetrate the skin, and fall flattened
from the animal’s side, should they happen to strike one of the
thicker parts of the hide, or where a coating of mud has dried fast
upon it. This skin when dry and formed into shields, may possibly
turn a ball; as it is then become so much harder than when alive.
In cutting up this Rhinoceros, my people found one bullet more than
they had fired: it appeared to have lain in the flesh a considerable
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