“Taking my eight-bore, and half-a-dozen spare cartridges in my pocket, I made a detour, and reaching the ant-heap in safety lay down.  For a moment the wind had dropped, but presently a gentle puff of air passed over me, and blew on towards the rhinoceros.  By the way, I wonder what it is that smells so strong about a man?  Is it his body or his breath?  I have never been able to make out, but I saw it stated the other day, that in the duck decoys the man who is working the ducks holds a little piece of burning turf before his mouth, and that if he does this they cannot smell him, which looks as though it were the breath.  Well, whatever it was about me that attracted his attention, the rhinoceros soon smelt me, for within half a minute after the puff of wind had passed me he was on his legs, and turning round to get his head up wind.  There he stood for a few seconds and sniffed, and then he began to move, first of all at a trot, then, as the scent grew stronger, at a furious gallop.  On he came, snorting like a runaway engine, with his tail stuck straight up in the air; if he had seen me lie down there he could not have made a better line.  It was rather nervous work, I can tell you, lying there waiting for his onslaught, for he looked like a mountain of flesh.  I determined, however, not to fire till I could plainly see his eye, for I think that rule always gives one the right distance for big game; so I rested my rifle on the ant-heap and waited for him, kneeling.  At last, when he was about forty yards away, I saw that the time had come, and aiming straight for the middle of the chest I pulled.

“Thud went the heavy bullet, and with a tremendous snort over rolled the rhinoceros beneath its shock, just like a shot rabbit.  But if I had thought that he was done for I was mistaken, for in another second he was up again, and coming at me as hard as ever, only with his head held low.  I waited till he was within ten yards, in the hope that he would expose his chest, but he would do nothing of the sort; so I just had to fire at his head with the left barrel, and take my chance.  Well, as luck would have it, of course the animal put its horn in the way of the bullet, which cut clean through it about three inches above the root and then glanced off into space.

“After that things got rather serious.  My gun was empty and the rhinoceros was rapidly arriving, so rapidly indeed that I came to the conclusion that I had better make way for him.  Accordingly I jumped to my feet and ran to the right as hard as I could go.  As I did so he arrived full tilt, knocked my friendly ant-heap flat, and for the third time that day went a most magnificent cropper.  This gave me a few seconds’ start, and I ran down wind—­my word, I did run!  Unfortunately, however, my modest retreat was observed, and the rhinoceros, as soon as he had found his legs again, set to work to run after me.  Now no man on earth can run so fast as an irritated rhinoceros can gallop, and