Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 April 1910 — MEETING A RHINOCEROS. [ARTICLE]

MEETING A RHINOCEROS.

It was an adventurous afternoon that Lieut. Col. J. H. Patterson describes in his book, “In the Grip of the Nyika,” and there was a useful lesson to be learned from the experience. It Is never well to go down a precipitous, narrow track into a bush-covered ravine in wild country In Africa without first assuring oneself by much stone throwing and hallooing that there is no dangerous beast lurking at the bottom. In the following incident no such precaution was taken. I was mounted, as usual, on Aladdin, and accompanied by my two Masai. Abbudi and Mellauw. I saw plenty of game in all directions, and on my way passed quite close by and watched a cow rhino with its little baby, a few days old, beside it. The young one looked very much like a pig. Soon afterward my progress was barred by a deep ravine with very steep sides. As it would have been impossible to take a horse down where I struck it, I walked along the edge for some distance till at last I found an animal path, which we could just manage to follow to the bottom, although it was somewhat precipitous and narrow. Mellauw went down first, I followed, and last of all came Abbudi leading Aladdin. The ravine was a wide one—• at least thirty yards across at the bottom—nnd was covered with dense bush. When we got down Mellouw was Just about to force his way through this undergrowth when he suddenly stopped and whispered to me, “Bwana, sow!” —"Master a rhino!’* “I asked under my breath, “Wapi?” —“Where?” and he replied in a frightened undertone, “Hapa, karibu sana” —“Here, just beside us.” There was mot room enough tp turn Aladdin, so I signaled to Abbudi to back him up the side of the ravine, while Mellauw and I quickly scrambled to what safety we could secure behind a tree. Here we waited for the expected charge of the now disturbed and suspicious brute. I held my rifle ready, and we hardly dared breathe while we listened to its angry snorts and watched Abbudi and Aladdin slowly making their way backward toward the summit. Very luckily for us, the wind was blowing strongly from the rhino in our direction. Had it been the reverse, the beast would undoubtedly have scented us and charged while we were all in the narrow path, and might possibly have killed or maimed all of us, as there was no way of escape. As it was, the creature stood undecided for a few moments, sniffing and snorting loudly; and then, not being able to make us out, it crashed off out of the ravine in the opposite direction. I wa‘B hugely relieved and pleased to see Its broad back show now and again through the scrub as the animal swiftly made its way up the far bank of the nullah and disappeared into the bush.