The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1897-09-02
SHOOTING AsRHINocERos.
Two of Them Charged q Hunter In an
African Forest.

~
African Forest.
Mr.. H. ". Seton Karr, in The
Century, describesh his experiences in
After Big Game In Africa and In
dia.'' Shortly after sbagging his
first elephant the author started aft
er the two horned rhinoceros. Ell
gives the following account of his
experience:
As I came round a bush l saw al
the bottom of kind of natural al
ley in the forest, framed in like !
picture by the trees, massive ole
female rhinoceros. She was facing
me and standing half in sunshine
half in shadow. From bush pro
truded the hind quartersof another
Signing TO the Somalis to keep back,
instantly sat down and = rev !
bead" upon her chest. ThediItanct
was about 20 yards, and 0ugf
the wind was adverse to In Ri 0Et
had made no noise, she "a NJ
seen us like moving shadQy nofsf
the trees and was evident b
suspicion and distrust y.
If / ever took careful
at that moment, and und
the smoke l shifted my
the rhinoceros came char4
upon us, giving three or a,r'
whiffs like jets of steam av;t1 IN n
with the intention Of cIear;.,o 9l,e
enemy away from the rear hafore
making her escape toward fhe ron
against the wind. Having. al She
supposed, effected this maneuver-
a very usual one on the paft 81 tht
rhinoceros-she swerved >off. a1,d'
the two broke away across the Tor
est, crash after crash dying asak
in the distance, marking their coura
as they receded. On perceiving til
rhinoceros go off apparently unir
jured, my Somalis gave full vent t
their disappointment, making ex
travagant gestures and using wha
sounded like bad language, yet ST
in half whispers, as they knew1ir
stinctively that the animals hnigl
not have gone far, after all, espt
cially if the one l had fired at be-
really received mortal wound.
The tracks we now followed wer'
deep holes and burrows imprinte
by the animals at full speed. w
had not gone far before ] again say
the larger of the two rhinocerose
standing broadside on and quite mo
tionless under bush which con
cealed the head. Giving my thre
Somalis to understand that the,
must remain quiet, l aimed .opc
more at the animals shoulder X
ing care that n~kwig or branch wa
in the line of e, knowing how cas-
lily bullet may become detected
My shot was followed by a coppl,
OF short, angry snorts, the stamp O
heavy feet and an appalling crash
ing, which advanced and then sweep
round toward the left. Another
cautious advance ON our part, ant
not far off I saw, near the center o.
an open space, the smaller of tn,
two rhinoceroses, but not the larger
one.
"A shot delivered standing, from
the shoulder, was followed by two
shrill squeaks as the animal tottered
a few PAGES and fell over on its side
"a sound most disproportionate te
the size and bulk of so large crea
ture, but which I instantly recogniz
ed, from Sir Samuel Bakers de
scription, as the death cry of the
rhinoceros, and the hearing of il
filled me with hunters joy. While
/ was reloading the Somalis haG
crept forward with their spears, re
lying upon their own agility il
evading any charge delivered by
the larger one, which 1 knew must
surely be somewhere near at hand.
After peering over low bush they
executed a war dance upon the
ground beyond, for there were the
two rhinoceroses lying stone dead
almost sido by side. My Somalis
gave way to shouts and exuberent
mirth. They were transformed
from scowling fiends, soured by the
white mans folly, into radiant
brown angels, and l allowed them
to stroke my face and pat me ON the
back without reprimand.
Intelligible Fog Signals.