On the 22d, says Mr. Cumming, ordering my men to move on toward a
fountain in the center of the plain, I rode forth with Ruyter, and held
east through a grove of lofty and wide-spreading mimosas, most of which
were more or less damaged by the gigantic strength of a troop of
elephants, which had passed there about twelve months before. Having
proceeded about two miles with large herds of game on every side, I
observed a crusty-looking, old bull borèlé, or black rhinoceros, cocking
his ears one hundred yards in advance. He had not observed us; and soon
after he walked slowly toward us, and stood broadside to, eating some
wait-a-bit thorns within fifty yards of me. I fired from my saddle, and
sent a bullet in behind his shoulder, upon which he rushed forward about
one hundred yards in tremendous consternation, blowing like a grampus,
and then stood looking about him. Presently he made off. I followed but
found it hard to come up with him. When I overtook him I saw the blood
running freely from his wound.
[Illustration: ESCAPE FROM THE RHINOCEROS]
The chase led through a large herd of blue wildebeests, zebras, and
springboks, which gazed at us in utter amazement. At length I fired my
second barrel, but my horse was fidgety, and I missed. I continued
riding alongside of him, expecting in my ignorance that at length he
would come to bay, which rhinoceroses never do; when suddenly he fell
flat on his broadside on the ground, but recovering his feet, resumed
his course as if nothing had happened. Becoming at last annoyed at the
length of the chase, as I wished to keep my horses fresh for the
elephants, and being indifferent whether I got the rhinoceros or not, as
I observed that his horn was completely worn down with age and the
violence of his disposition, I determined to bring matters to a crisis;
so, spurring my horse, I dashed ahead, and rode right in his path. Upon
this, the hideous monster instantly charged me in the most resolute
manner, blowing loudly through his nostrils; and, although I quickly
wheeled about to my left, he followed me at such a furious pace for
several hundred yards, with his horrid horny snout within a few yards of
my horse's tail, that my little Bushman, who was looking on in great
alarm, thought his master's destruction inevitable. It was certainly a
very near thing; my horse was extremely afraid, and exerted his utmost
energies on the occasion. The rhinoceros, however, wheeled about, and
continued his former course; and I, being perfectly satisfied with the
interview which I had already enjoyed with him, had no desire to
cultivate his acquaintance any further, and accordingly made for camp.