AUTHOR'S HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES. 325 All thought of pursuing the wounded lion was now out of the question. The natives remained gorging on the carcass of the cameleopard until it was devoured. A day or two afterwards, however, I had the good fortune to fall in with my royal antagonist, and finished him without much difficulty. At Kobis and the neighborhood, I enjoyed shooting to perfection. But I had many hair-breadth escapes from elephants and rhinoceroses. One fine moonlight night, when snugly ensconced in my " skärm," and contemplating the strange, but picturesque scene before me, my reverie was interrupted by the inharmonious grunting of a black rhinoceros. He was evidently in bad humor, for, as he emerged from amongst the trees into more open ground, I observed him madly charging anything and everything that he encountered, such as bushes, stones, etc. Even the whitened skulls and skeletons of his own species, lying scattered about on the ground, were attacked with inconceivable fury. I was much amused at his eccentric pastime; but, owing to the openness of the ground, and the quantity of the limestone thereabouts, which made objects more distinct, he was not easy of approach. However, after divesting myself of my shoes, and all the more conspicuous parts of my dress, I managed to crawl-pushing my gun before me-to within a short distance of the snorting beast. As he was advancing in a direct line towards me, I did not like to fire, because one has little chance of killing the rhinoceros when in that position. Hav 1 The accompanying plate represents one of those numerous and exciting scenes that I have witnessed at night, at the water, when lying in ambush for game. There is one fact-a fact that has hitherto escaped the attention of the African sportsman-connected with this illustration that makes it particularly interesting, and which induced me to designate it "The Approach of Elephants." The animals are just appearing above the distant hill. If the spring or pool, as the case may be, be of small extent, all the animals present will invariably retire from the water as soon as they are aware of the presence of the elephants, of whom they appear to have an instinctive dread, and will remain at a respectful distance until the giants have quenched their thirst. Thus, long before I have seen, or even heard, the elephants, I have been warned of their approach by the symptoms of uneasiness displayed by such animals as happened to be drinking at the time. The giraffe, for instance, begins to sway his long neck to and fro; the zebra utters subdued, plaintive cries; the gnoo glides away with a noiseless step; and even the ponderous and quarrelsome black rhinoceros, when he has time for reflection, will pull up short in his walk to listen; then, turning round, he listens again, and, if he feel satisfied that his suspicions are correct, he invariably makes off, usually giving vent to his fear or ire by one of his vicious and peculiar snorts. Once, it is true, I saw a rhinoceros drinking together with a herd of seven male elephants; but then he was of the white species, and, besides, I do not believe that either party knew of each other's proximity. 326 ESCAPE FROM A TROOP OF ELEPHANTS. ing approached to within a few feet of me, his attention was attracted, and suddenly uttering one of those strange "blowing" noises, so peculiar to the beast when alarmed or enraged, he prepared to treat me in a similar manner to the stones and skulls he had just so unceremoniously tossed about. Not a moment was to be lost; and, in self-defense, I fired at his head. I shall never forget the confusion of the animal on receiving the contents of my gun. Springing nearly perpendicularly into the air, and to the height of many feet, he came down again with a thump that seemed to make the earth tremble-then plunging violently forward (in doing which, he all but trampled on me), he ran round and round the spot for fully five minutes, enveloping every object in a cloud of dust. At last he dashed into the wood and was hidden from view. Not finding blood on his tracks, I had no reason to suppose he was much hurt. My notion is, the bullet struck his horn, partially stunning him with its jarring violence. Had my gun missed fire when he charged, it is more than probable I should have been impaled. Again having on a certain night stalked to within a few paces of a huge white rhinoceros (a female as it proved), I put a ball in her shoulder; but it nearly cost me dear; for, guided by the flash of the gun, she rushed upon me with such fury that I had only time to throw myself on my back, in which position I remained motionless. This saved my life, for, not observing me, she came to a sudden halt just as her feet were about to crush my body. She was so near to me that I felt the saliva from her mouth trickle on my face! I was in an agony of suspense, though, happily, only for a moment; for, having impatiently sniffed the air, she wheeled about, and made off at her utmost speed. I then saw, for the first time, that her calf was in company, and at once recognized the pair as an old acquaintance, and as specially vicious animals. On another occasion, when the night was very dark, I crept to within a short distance of seven bull-elephants, and was endeavoring to pick out the largest, when I was startled by a peculiar rumbling noise close behind me. Springing to my feet I perceived, to my surprise and alarm, a semi-circle of female elephants, with their calves, bearing down upon me. My position was critical, being between two fires, so to say, and I had no other choice than either to plunge into the pool, which could only be crossed by swimming, in the face of the male elephants, or to break through the ranks of the females. I adopted the latter alternative, but first fired at the nearest of the seven bulls; WHERE то AIM AT AN ELEPHANT. 327 and then, and without a moment's delay, I rushed on the more open rank of the female phalanx, uttering, at the time, loud shouts. My cries caused a momentary panic amongst the animals, of which I took advantage, and slipped out between them, discharging my second barrel into the shoulder of the nearest as I passed her. No sooner, however, had I effected my escape, than the whole herd made a simultaneous rush at me, and trumpeted so shrilly as to cause every man at the camp, as I learnt afterwards, to start out of his sleep. Fortunately, the darkness prevented the beasts from following me; and, the jungle being close by, I was soon in safety. In my precipitate flight, however, I severely lacerated my feet; for, when stalking the elephants, I had taken off my shoes, that I might the better steal upon them. When, after a while, I ventured out of my place of concealment, I found everything quiet: only one solitary elephant remained. Having approached within a short distance, I could distinctly see him laving water on to his sides with his trunk. I immediately suspected he belonged to the troop of seven bulls, and was the one that I had fired at. Seating myself right across his path, I quietly watched his proceedings. After a time I saw him, as I thought, moving off in an opposite direction. But I was mistaken; for in another instant his towering form loomed above me. It was too late to get out of his way; so, quickly raising myself on one knee, I took a steady aim at his fore leg. On receiving the ball, he uttered the most plaintive cries, and rushing past me, soon disappeared in the neighboring forest. The next afternoon he was discovered dead within rifle-shot of the water. It had been a very successful night; for a fine female elephant had also fallen to my other shot.1 I lost many noble beasts from the small calibre of my guns, which did not carry more than fourteen and seventeen balls respectively to the pound. This was more especially the case as regarded the elephants and it was not until after a time, and when they had become scarce and shy, that I found out the way of bringing them down with any certainty at one or two shots. I found the best part to aim at (when shooting by night) was the shoulder, either behind or in the centre, near to the lower edge of the ear. Another good point, provided the gun be of large calibre, is to fire at the leg, which once broken, the animal, in almost every instance, is completely at the mercy of the hunter. CHAPTER XXXII. TIMBO'S RETURN FROM THE LAKE; HIS LOGIC; HE TAKES THE LAW IN ANT, KAMAPYU-AUTHOR AGAIN CHARGED BY THE RHINOCEROS, AND ESCAPES I learned AFTER about a week's absence, Timbo returned. from him that, previously to his arrival at the Ngami, Lecholétébè, the chief, had not, contrary to my expectations, been made aware of my approach; and the sudden appearance of strangers, therefore, created no small degree of surprise and consternation both to him and his people, who fled precipitately with their flocks. Many years before, when my friends, the Damaras, extended their migrations to the neighborhood of the Lake in question, the Bechuanas were in the habit of robbing them of their cattle. "How does it happen" said Lecholètébè to Timbo-" that the Damaras are your servants? They are a mighty nation, rich in cattle, which I know well, because my father fought many a bloody battle with them. We invariably came off victorious, though often at the cost of numbers of our warriors, who were slain by the broad assegai of the Damaras. All is not right! your master richer than they?" Is To this query Timbo logically replied, "No! my master no rich; master very poor; but master has something, and Damaras nothing; therefore, master more rich than Damaras." CALF AND SHIN-BONE CHANGE PLACES. 329 Timbo then explained the way in which that tribe had been impoverished and nearly exterminated, as also the motives of our journey. On hearing all this, the apprehensions of the chief gradually subsided, and he became more communicative and friendly, urging Timbo to return to me without delay, and hurry on my departure, being anxious, as he said, for my arrival; he, moreover, hinted that he would forthwith send men to meet and assist us in our progress. But here ended his courtesy; for, subsequently, he allowed our party, whilst at his town, all but to starve. It seems a characteristic of black chieftains to be avaricious. Previously to reaching Lecholètébè's residence, it was necessary to cross the Zouga, his town having been removed to the north side of the river, from fear, as it is said, of Sekomo, another Bechuana chieftain. When Timbo and his party were on their return to me, the natives refused to ferry them over the river without payment. "Me have no money," said Timbo; "but me soon make Caffres do it for nothing: me say, 'So you will not row me across!' And with that me lay hold of big stick, and me pitch into the rascals. Oh, master, such fun! me now get plenty of boats." "But were you not afraid of resorting to such severe measures?" I inquired. "Me frightened," he exclaimed; "no, me flog natives very well; it do them plenty good; the fellows too lazy to do work." I now resolved to lose no more time, but to push on at once to the Lake. My leg had in some degree recovered its strength; but, unobserved by me, it had received a somewhat ugly twist. Little George first drew my attention to the fact: "Sir," said he, "your leg has grown crooked." "Crooked!" echoed I, somewhat angrily. mean?" "What do you "Only," he wickedly replied, "the calf is nearly where the shin ought to be." The boy's remark was not without foundation; but in time the leg assumed its proper shape. Notwithstanding my anxious desire to reach the Ngami-the goal of my wishes-I determined, before finally leaving Kobis, to devote one more day, or rather night, to the destruction of the denizens of the forest. But the adventure nearly terminated fatally; and the night of the 15th of July will ever be remembered by me as one of the most eventful epochs of my life; for, in the course of it, I was three several times in the very jaws of death, and only escaped destruction by a miracle. From the constant persecution to which the larger game had |