La Junta tribune., 1910-01-08
have a singular way of hunting th.

rnlno. Ihcy dig Il noie near tree 10
which they know he comes regularly.
Over the hole they lay bamboo trap
which looks like spokeless wheel
Over the trap they lay n moose, and to
the other end Of the noosed rope they
tie log weighing 800 or 400 pounds.
When the rhinoceros comes to his IA
vorite tree he gets his foot In the trap.
and when he struggles to pull his foot
out he draws tight the moose. He then
makes Oh at gallop. dragging the log.
The natives track him by means Of
the marks which the log leaves. and
when, tired out, he lies down to rest
scores Of them attack him with spears.
Surprisingly quick on his feet. the
rhino would be doubly dangerous II
his eyesight were not poor and his
range Of vision limited pretty much to
straight ahead. Hunters Of quick wit
have on numerous occasions saved
themselves by making a quick turn to
one side from his path, escaping his
vision. And blindly ahead charges
Mr.. Rhino, In such a rage that on
striking a tree head-on he has been
known to halt and lunge at II so heav-
lily that he has broken his own neck
OFT, on a savage quest Of balm for
wounded feelings, he has charged At Q
caravan. going through 1t from one
end to another, scattering white men,
natives, ponies and baggage In every
direction, and as suddenly disappear
Ing, In snorting glee. into the hidden
recesses OF his haunts.
An Englishman who recently re-
turned from an African exploring eN.
when In camp tremendous noise was
heard In neighboring thicket. As he
jumped to his feet a rhlno bull four
teen feet long plunged through the
askarls on guard. came through the
small herd of cattle the party had.
broke the backs of two cows. gored
pony to death. collided with terri
fed cook, throwing him high in the
air. landing thirty feet distant, and
with a final effort demolished the tent
from which the leaders OF the expell
tion had precIpitately fed moment
before. or sudden the rhino was
gone in the darkness, several shots.
hastily fired. having no effect.
A seasoned forester. who procured
dangerous animals for years In Africa
for Barnum's circus, tells the writer
that he would rather tackle lion or
an elephant any day than a rhino.
II captured Barnum's first rhinoc.
animal hin,
than any four lions or tigers he ever
owned" the hunter said. 81 sent
home lions. giraffes. elephants. bufra-
loes and hyehas. but 1t was a whole
year before | got my hrst rhinoceros.
The natives had killed one occasional.
ly. but such a thing as capturing one
alive had never been heard Of
after falling to make moose strong
enough to hold rhino my next move
was to seek 4 point on . path several
miles from camp and erect . barri-
cade. This barricade ran TO Q v shap-
ed point and was made strong enough
to hold an elephant. II . rhinoceros
took that path he would follow II to
the last inch. and when In close quar-
tiers We would be on hand to tangie
him up. When q rhinoceros appeared
at the barricade he halted to sni6 the
air. Then he lowered bis head, chHrg
Ing down the path.
~ thought We had him. but he
struck the logs aud rocks at the point
Of the v with the power Of . Wild lo-
connective aud battered through. leav.
ing blood and chunks Of bis hide on
every side.
II hadn't been IN Africa very long
when ! found out that the elephant
played second fiddle. We were hiding
At n water hole one day to watch the
direction taken by . troop Of nine ele-
plants when q bull rhino appeared
He stood In the open and took long
survey of the elephants, As they
caught sight Of him they crowded to-
gether a. II alarmed. The rhino got
ready and with . loud snort came
charging down. Among the nine was
an elephant almost as big ms was
Jumbo. a phenomenon among African
elephants The rhinoceros made di.
rectly for the big fellow. struck him
on the left shoulder. knocked him into
the pool aud fell over him. The other
elephants ran away. and, though the
big fellow ought to have been able 10
overcome u pnir Of rhinos. he ran
away from this one. closely pursued,
"on one occasion We .hsd captured n
cub lion In n pit and were engaged IN
getting him into n cage. within han
mile of our camp a lion. lIoness and
Q cub had lain up In Z ihicket for the
day. Our captive was Of this family.
aud his loss put them In fighting
mood. A roaming rhino got their scent
aud our people saw him charge Into
the thicket. There wns = row Ms he un.
covered the lions. and he emerged IN
chase of the lioness and the cub. while