“Another second, and I heard a most tremendous crashing noise.  Before I could think what to do, before I could even get up, the bush behind me seemed to burst asunder, and there appeared not eight yards from us, the great horn and wicked twinkling eye of a charging rhinoceros.  He had winded us or my pipe, I do not know which, and, after the fashion of these brutes, had charged up the scent.  I could not rise, I could not even get the gun up, I had no time.  All that I was able to do was to roll over as far out of the monster’s path as the bush would allow.  Another second and he was over me, his great bulk towering above me like a mountain, and, upon my word, I could not get his smell out of my nostrils for a week.  Circumstances impressed it on my memory, at least I suppose so.  His hot breath blew upon my face, one of his front feet just missed my head, and his hind one actually trod upon the loose part of my trousers and pinched a little bit of my skin.  I saw him pass over me lying as I was upon my back, and next second I saw something else.  My men were a little behind me, and therefore straight in the path of the rhinoceros.  One of them flung himself backwards into the bush, and thus avoided him.  The second with a wild yell sprung to his feet, and bounded like an india-rubber ball right into the aloe bush, landing well among the spikes.  But the third, it was my friend Gobo, could not by any means get away.  He managed to gain his feet, and that was all.  The rhinoceros was charging with his head low; his horn passed between Gobo’s legs, and feeling something on his nose, he jerked it up.  Away went Gobo, high into the air.  He turned a complete somersault at the apex of the curve, and as he did so, I caught sight of his face.  It was gray with terror, and his mouth was wide open.  Down he came, right on to the great brute’s back, and that broke his fall.  Luckily for him the rhinoceros never turned, but crashed straight through the aloe bush, only missing the man who had jumped into it by about a yard.

“Then followed a complication.  The sleeping buffalo on the further side of the bush, hearing the noise, sprang to his feet, and for a second, not knowing what to do, stood still.  At that instant the huge rhinoceros blundered right on to him, and getting his horn beneath his stomach gave him such a fearful dig that the buffalo was turned over on to his back, while his assailant went a most amazing cropper over his carcase.  In another moment, however, the rhinoceros was up, and wheeling round to the left, crashed through the bush down-hill and towards the open country.