MRS. ROBERTS KILLS A GIRAFFE--HUNTING THE
RHINOCEROS--MISS BOLAND SECURES A PET.
Jack brought down a giraffe, and so did Harry. I might have done as
well, perhaps, but felt that politeness required me to look after
Mrs. Roberts. She disclaimed all intention of trying to kill a
giraffe, unless it came around in her way. After her exploit at
stalking, Miss Boland joined us, and said she would leave the fleeing
herd to the gentlemen, as she thought she had already had enough
glory to satisfy her for that day. So we took places in the rear of
Jack and Harry, and it was not long before they were out of sight.
We were jogging demurely along, and I suppose half an hour had
passed, when I saw a cloud of dust away to the southward. I was at
first doubtful about it, but looking a second and a third time, I was
satisfied as to its character.
"You are to have your chance now, Mrs. Roberts," I said, doubtless
with a good deal of animation.
"How so?" she asked.
"Why, there comes the herd!" I answered; "you said you wouldn't shoot
a giraffe unless it came in your way, and there's a lot of them
coming now."
"All right, then; if they're coming I'll take a shot."
The plain was quite open where the giraffes were running, and they
seemed to be headed directly for a clump of trees a quarter of a mile
or so to our right.
"Come on," I shouted, as I led the way to the clump of trees. "The
giraffes will go there for security, and that will give you a chance
for a shot at them."
We reached the trees easily and dismounted, I holding the horses
while the ladies took up their positions behind trees that would
screen them well. On came the herd, and it did exactly what I
expected it would do--sought the shelter of the trees. One of the
animals passed within ten yards of the muzzle of Mrs. Roberts's
rifle; she fired at the right time, and her shot was successful. The
bullet passed through the cervical column, just above the shoulder,
and brought the animal to the ground, where a second shot finished
him. Miss Boland refrained from firing, and so did I, as we felt
that game enough had been slaughtered for the day, and none of us
believed in wanton destruction.
Not far behind the herd came Harry and Jack; they reported, as I have
already said, that each had slaughtered a giraffe, and it was then
unanimously voted to bring the hunt to an end. Our camp was much
nearer than that of the ladies; we invited them to our establishment
for luncheon, and they graciously accepted. Mrs. Roberts relieved
any possible embarrassment of ours by saying:
"We sha'n't expect any such lunch as you gave us the other day--that
is too much to look for more than twice in a season. We will go to
your camp with pleasure, and take whatever pot-luck happens to be in
order."
"Yes," echoed Miss Boland; "I am hungry enough for whatever you offer
us, from hippopotamus to buffalo or giraffe; anything will be
welcome."
"Thank you very much," said Jack. "We've a bit of surprise in store
for you; at least, I think we have; but I'll keep it a secret till we
get to camp."
When we reached the camp we gave up our tent to our guests, sent
their horses to the kraal to be fed and cared for, and then proceeded
to interview our cook. Table was set, and in due time we sat down to
a feast, the principal dish being an elephant's foot, which the
reader already knows about. Our guests had never seen or tasted of
this dish, and they praised it so warmly as to bring the blushes all
over the cheeks of Jack Delafield, who had supervised its preparation.
We had several other things in the luncheon, including buffalo-steaks
and rhinoceros-stew; but they received very little attention, the
elephant's foot being the _pièce de résistance_ of the occasion.
We lingered a reasonable while over the table, and then it was
proposed that the three from our camp should accompany the two from
the other on their homeward way, and possibly do a little hunting
while making the journey.
We discussed the propriety of attempting to stalk gemsbok or koodoo
on the way, and Miss Boland said if she had her favorite ox David
along, she would show us what could be done in the pursuit of
gemsbok; but the probabilities were that the after-rider, Kleinboy,
had returned to the wagons with the ox; and unless a herd of game
animals could be found in the neighborhood of the camp, it would be
altogether too late in the day for a hunt of that sort.
I went away from the table while the hunting-question was being
settled, and went out to find Mirogo. He was regaling the cook with
stories of his prowess and the wonderful things he had accomplished
in previous excursions up-country with white men. Mirogo was a
judicious liar, as he always placed his remarkable achievements at
times and localities where it was impossible to confute him. If he
found, while telling a story, that any of his auditors had the least
knowledge of the affair, he subsided at once. In everything
concerning our own affairs, and particularly in reports of game that
had just been sighted, he was quite exact--as exact as one could
possibly expect a native of South Africa to be.
When I questioned Mirogo as to the chances of game in the direction
where we were going, he said he did not think there was much there
just at that time. The elephants seemed to have crossed the river
and gone farther north, while the buffaloes appeared to have worked
away quite a distance to the westward. Some natives had told him
about two or three troops of rhinoceroses, and the presence of these
animals was a pretty fair indication that the elephants had gone
elsewhere.
I have already stated that the elephant and rhinoceros are not
friends, and generally fight when they meet. The rhinoceros and
buffalo get along very well together, and I have repeatedly seen
mixed herds of these two animals living on the most friendly terms.
But it is not all peace and happiness with them, as they occasionally
get into difficulties with one another; and when a couple of bulls
get to fighting, it is generally a fight to the death.
On one occasion, when I was pursuing one of these mixed herds through
some low bushes, my attention was attracted by the vultures that were
assembling from all directions near a certain spot. I rode to the
place, and found a rhinoceros and a buffalo--both powerful bulls--in
the agonies of death. No, they were not in agonies, as the buffalo
had just died, and the rhinoceros was breathing his last. The latter
had cut fearful gashes in the buffalo with the single horn that
protrudes from his nose; and at the same time the buffalo had made
vigorous use of those powerful horns that adorn his ugly head. I
looked a few moments at the spectacle, and then went away, knowing
that the vultures would very soon go at their work.
When I announced to my friends the hunting-prospects, nobody seemed
particularly elated; the ladies said they had never hunted
rhinoceros, and Mrs. Roberts asked if it would be proper for them to
do so. I told her everything was game in Africa, and if she felt any
compunctions of conscience about shooting the beasts, she might look
on and see somebody else perform the work. So we mounted our horses
and went off in the direction where the game was to be found.
A sturdy bull-rhinoceros is pretty nearly as dangerous when you hunt
him as an elephant is. His body is unwieldy and very clumsy in
appearance, but when his temper is up he can get around with it
pretty rapidly. Sometimes, when he sees a hunter coming toward him,
he does not wait to be fired at before charging, but goes in for the
charge at once. This being the way of the animal, I suggested to the
ladies that two of our party would begin the fight, while they, with
the third one, could stay in the rear and look on.
It was my quiet intention to be that third one myself; but before I
said so, Jack and Harry had each volunteered to look after our fair
charges. Seeing that there might be some dispute on the subject,
Mrs. Roberts suggested that they would take care of themselves, and
all three of us might attack the game. This was a very sensible
proposition, as it gave us an equal chance all around--that is, an
equal chance at the rhinos, and no chance whatever for any of us to
stay back and say sweet things to the ladies.
Sure enough, we found the game--about twenty rhinos of all sizes and
ages. There was one cow with a calf, the calf a good-sized fellow,
who ought to have been going around independently by himself. Some
of the rhinos were black, and others white. The white rhinoceros is
valuable for his horn, which is much superior to that of the black
rhino, and his hide is also of a better quality. In fact, the black
rhinoceros is of so little value that a great many hunters pass him
by, and do not waste ammunition upon him. They shoot him
occasionally in order to give the natives meat, or when they have the
fever in their blood, and the feeling that they must kill something.
About half the animals in this herd were white, and so we went in
pursuit of them. We each singled out our game, and rode up to it as
closely as we could without being discovered. Then we dismounted,
leaving the horses in the care of our after-rider, and stalked our
way up to the game. The brute I had chosen was standing under a
tree, and appeared very uneasy; he seemed to scent the danger in the
air, but could not tell from what direction it was coming. I got up
to within twenty yards of him, and gave him a shot behind the
shoulder, which brought him to the ground. He was up and off in a
moment; or rather, he was up, but went off only two or three steps
till I finished him with another shot.
Harry and Jack were less successful than I, as they had a long chase,
Harry losing his animal altogether; but Jack succeeded in capturing
his game just as he was entering the edge of the forest. When Harry
found he would lose his, he turned in pursuit of the cow and calf
that I mentioned. He stalked up within fifty yards of the cow, when
she suddenly perceived him. She turned and trotted straight toward
him, her manner indicating that his room would be much preferable to
his company, and that it was her intention to secure his immediate
departure. He had views of his own on the subject, and so gave her a
shot in the chest as she approached. The calf bore quite a
resemblance to a good-sized hog; his ears were sharp and pointed, his
skin was very smooth and fat, and it shone like a freshly polished
boot.
When the shooting was over, and those of the herd that we had not
brought down had disappeared in the distance, the ladies joined us to
look at our game. We cut out the horns and the tongues of the
animals, and Harry suggested to the ladies that we would present them
with the young rhinoceros; in fact, he would have that honor, as the
game belonged to him. To this we readily assented, and told the
after-rider to get a half-dozen or so of the Kafirs to carry away the
little brute--not so little, either, as he weighed pretty nearly
three hundred pounds!
"Wait a moment," said Miss Boland; "before you send for the men to
carry him, let us consider what we can do with him."
"Oh, make a pet of him, Miss Boland," said I; "a young rhinoceros is
a delightful pet."
"If it's all the same to you," she replied, "I think a fox-terrier or
a pug would be preferable. It looks not altogether unlike a pug;
perhaps he is really a gigantic dog of the pug species--who knows?"
"I'm afraid his habits of life," I replied, "are not altogether
puggish; and certainly the way his mother charged at Harry just as he
was about to fire indicated anything but the disposition of that
inoffensive member of the canine race. Perhaps, after all, he
wouldn't make a good household pet, but would do as an ornament to
the kraal."
"Possibly I can tame him and use him for saddle purposes," the young
lady continued. "What do you say to that, Mrs. Roberts?"
"A saddle-rhinoceros would certainly be a novelty," the other lady
answered, "but I don't think it would be of much use for
hunting-purposes. On seeing its kindred it might dart off and carry
you among them, without giving you a chance to slip from the saddle
and escape. One's life wouldn't be worth much in a herd of these
creatures."