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1
HUNTING ATEAD t AFRICA S LN 3T t
1
Shooting Rhinoceros in Uganda
By W J Ansorge M A LL D M R C S L R C P
HE rhinoceros met
with In Uganda and
I British East Africa
T I is the common black
rhinoceros blcor
niB I C the two
homed rhino I
have heard of
freaks with three
and even five horns
but I havo never seen one of them
Tho Indian rhino has only one horn it
also differs In having huge massive
folds of skin which make It look as If
clad In a coat of mail like a battle
horse of the middle ages Notwlth
Rtandlng the absence of these folds
the skin of the African rhino Is more
than an inch thick along the back and
sides and over the abdomen where
It is comparatively thin It Is fully half
an Inch An extinct twohorned species
of rhino discovered In tho Ice fields of
Siberia along with the extinct mam
moth had a shagS coat of long wool
but tho present Africa representatives
of those antediluvian rhinos and ole
phanta have practically a naked skin
I with tho exception of the tip of the
I tall which Is fringed with long brls
ties
The upper lip of the rhino overlaps
the lower nnd Jt Is pointed and prc
jhensllc I watched a rhino browsing
on the leaves of shrubs and bushes it
plucked off the single leaves as deftly
las any experienced tea gatherer strip
ping a tea shrub of its leaves It has
very small eyes and a short range of
vision It does not seem to bo able to
distinguish a human being at a quar
ter of a mile even when on a perfect
ly open plain
Military Bullets for Rhinos
Rhinos are greatly troubled by
small crablike ticks these small red
brown parasites cluster under the tall
along the abdomen and thighs and
around the base of tho eyelashes
Though sight may be somewhat defec
tive hearing Is fairly acute and scent
IB extremely keen I had occasion to
notice thin at Camplyu Sltnba Only
my gun bearer as we call tho servant
who carries ones gun or rifle was
with me and I had but a single solid
eMotford bullet left when wo no
ticed a pair of rhinos evidently a cow
with her calf on the open plain about
a mile and a quarter from us Tho
calf was lying down and the cow stood
fby It motionless with drooping head
We had to pass them as they were
directly In our path but we were not
anxious to risk an encounter having I
but onQ single solid bullet for our pro
tnctlon Wo decided to give them a
wide berth and to outflank them at
the same respectful distance of over n
mile As long as the wind was in our
favor tho rhinos did not stir hut as
wo wero bound to pass to windward
I of them we kept a wary eye on their
movements Though there was but
jtho faintest breath of wind the very
instant almost that wo got to wind
ward of thorn the cow started and
turned round and the young one
jumped up Both rhinos appeared
Greatly alarmed and we could see that
we were the cause although Invisible
to them
The rhinos I have shot amongst
thorn two fine old bulls were nil
smaller than my hippos The rhino
no three toes tho hippo four and the
lot > hant five The foot of the ele
phant is tho largest In size the rhino
foot comes next Tho hippo has a
comparatively small foot for so large
a body this difference In size Is ex
plained by tho fact that the hippo
ponds the greater part of its exist
ence In tho water swimming The
horn of the rhinoceros arc part and
I parcel of tho skin and merely a modi
Icatlon of It like a nail It follows
that tbo horns can be stripped off tho
sknll without Injuring any bone The
anterior horn Is usually longer than
the posterior horn but sometimes the
reverse Is tho case Tho posterior
born rests between the eyes on the I
frontal bone but tho anterior horn is
supported on the nose tho nasal bones
being raised and strengthened to form
a hard bony bump
The horns are solid the anterior
curves backward the posterior Is
straight and pyramidal Tho anterior
horn of the female Is usually moro ele
gant than tho corresponding horn of
the male which is evidently a very
terrible weapon for fighting with be
ing short stumpy sharply pointed and I
very massive The longest horn In
my possession came from my first rhi
no a female It measures 25 Inches
along tho outer curve from tip to
base
If a caravan walking In single file
stretches n long threatening lint
across tho path of the rhino It prob
ably will charge right through tim line
under the Impression that this Is a
hostile demonstration meant to encir
cle It but onco through tho line It
hurries away only too eager to es
cape It was at Nairobi the Klkuyu
end of tho Athl plains where I shot
my first and second rhino I was In
charge of a big caravan as I was tak
ing oxKing Mbogo with his family and
I followers back to Uganda Wo were
delayed at Fort Smith and the food
I supply was runnlug short I therefore
went to shoot game and I had shot
one hartobpost antelope and two
Thomspnll gazelles when a pair of rhi
nos appeared In the distance Tho
wind was blowing from the rhinos to
wards us I was therefore able to ap
proach within 200 yards I used the
LeeSpeed rifle with solid bullet
Bagging Two
At the first hot at the rhino with
the longest horn It sank Into a silting
posture on Its hind legs and at tho
second shot It rolled over The other
rhino raced furiously round and round
in ever increasing circles around tho
fallen one and then went off at a tan
gent On walking up to tho fallen rhi
no It staggered to Its feet and at
tempted to charGc but It only gored
the ground and foil down again A
bullet given on n coupe degrace In tho
bend extinguished life It was a huge
old female
Very few of the caravan porters had
accompanied me they could only carry
therefore tho rhino head to Fort
Smith In addition to the game already
shot Early next morning a numer
ous crowd left the fort to supply them
selves with meat oft tho rhino I fol
lowed later on but not feeling up to
doing the six hours march required to
get there and back I decided to tnko
with mo my light network hammock
It Is a very suitable one for travelers
I bought It at Zanzibar to meet any
unforeseen emergency It folds up and
slips Into a tiny satchel 1 little
thought bow useful I should find It On
reaching Nairobi 1 was met by my
headman nnd the others who had gono
with him HP told mo that not a scrap
of the dead rhino could be found Lions
nnd hyenas had devoured It during
the night In fact If I had not brought
already the rhinos head to Fort Smith
grass barely six Inches high I had
thus the advantage of seeing tho
game but the disadvantage of being
soon by it As I drew oarer I saw
still farther off again a pair of rhinos
Trusting to their limited range of
vision and to the wind being In my
favor I went towards tho pair At 200
yards they appeared to fortvo noticed
us for they stood and looked towards
UK Kneeling on tho ground I aimed
at the ono with the longer horn but
Just as I pulled the trlggor Uio smaller
rhino veered round and intercepted
my bullet the wound was not a mor
tal one With a snort of rage both an
imals came In a sharp trot toward us
Charged by Two At Once
My two men would have started up
and bolted but I just managed to pre
vent It All three of us now crawled
off on our stomachs endeavoring to
get out of tno way of the advancing
rhinos Tho two others got ahead of
me when suddenly my Martini rlllo
which I was dragging along with my
left hand blazed off The muzzle was
pointing behind mo and at the moment
nearly touched my loft foot The bul
let wont clean through my foot Tho
trigger I suppose had caught In rome
stubble What made It worM was that
the loud report was accompanied by a
cloud of smoko though I am not sure
now whether It was not this very
smoke which hid us from the two ap
proaching rhinos My men jumped up
and ran away whereupon I too
jumped up and ran but within fifty
yards or less I sank to tho ground
overpowered by tho pain In my wound
ed foot
The rhinos fortunately galloped off
without having neon us I wore long
heavy leathor shooting boots reaching
up to my knees With some dlfilculty
I got the boot and tho bloodsoaked
sock off The bullet had not gmabhed
up tho parts but drilled a clean hole
where the great toe joins the foot The
toe Itself was cold blue nnd apparent
ly dead I tore oft a long strip of clotU
to serve as a tourniquet and bandage
and twisted It tightly over the Injured
part to staunch the flow of blood My
two men returned to me with sincere
regrets at not having noticed In their
panic my accident Tho sorrow and
universal sympathy of my black derv
Ants and caravan porters was touching
nnd gratifying us I am certainly in
favor of upholding strict discipline Jn
a caravan I am certain natives ap
preciate a white mans rule the more
If he Is firm but at the same time
scrupulously just In his dealings wjth
them
The Hunter Returns Wounded
My hammock now proved vory wel
come and In It I was carried hack to
Fort Smith What worried me on the
way was not so much tho palu as tho
thougnt that If the great too was not
so really done for I should have to
amputate my own toe not a very
pleasing prospect or as an alternative
something oven more disagreeable to
contemplate I should have to ask one
of tho officials at the fort to cut the
too offj and not one of them had the
necessary surgical knowledge This
brought vividly to my mind n scene
once witnessed by my father in an In
dian village A blacksmith happened
to be tho accredited village surgeon
A man appeared at the forge with an
Injured great too Tho blacksmith re
quested him to put his foot on tho an
vil and before either patient or on
lookers had time to realize what was
about to happen with a stroke of his
chisel nnd hammer the blacksmith had
clean chopped off the toe i
The threo hours return Journey to
tho fort allowed tlmo for the collateral
circulation to establish Itself In my In
jured foot and when I drossed the
wound nt tho fort I was dpllghtcd to
find that amputation was not neces
sary Uhln a month applying ordin
I
ary antiseptic treatment the wound I
had thoroughly healed leaving linear I
scar on the dorsal surface and a round I
scar on the sole of the foot where tho
bullot had made its exit Also the long
tendon upon which depends so much I
of the movement of the great toe be
came reunited though clean severed
by tho accident In tho course of a
month n good deal of the original
movement was restored to the Injured I
part
My third rhino was again an old
bull I shot It near the Klboko river
to tho west side of tho caravan route
There was a good deal of bush about
which made It easy to stall within
twenty yards of the rhino I used the I
Martini rlllo I preferred owing to the
position of the rhino to try the shoul
der shot At onco It turned to charge
but It was evidently mortally wounded
for It staggered as It gored at the near
est bush A second bullet fired at tho
head entered the brain and rolled It
over Ono man went off to carry the
welcome news to the caravan and to
act as guide to those who were willing
to fetch tho meat supply to the camp
In tho meanwhile another of my men
began to cut up tho rhino
Deserted by the Servants
Last limo I passed by the Kiboko
river I came to the oast side of the
caravan route upon a fine old rhino
bull but I could not gel sufficiently
near aa a deep and wooded hollow In
tervened I had throe of my men with
me but the moment wo sighted the
rhino they left mo and swarmed up
the nearest trees Only some consid
erable time after tho rhino disap
peared crashing In headlong flight
through tho bushes did my brave boys
descend from their perch of safety
My fourth rhino was a young soli
tary bull I called It the baby
though It was considerably larger
than a donkey and evidently old
enough to have started on Its solitary
Journey on Its own responsibility Ow
ing to the drought we had camped
where we could find water and the
porters called this camp Camplya
dnktarlthe doctors camp It lies
between Camplyaslmba and Muanl
The ground hero was literally covered
with largo beetles and biggish scor
pions
My last two rhinos an old female
and n young male I shot at Laujora
I had to make a very wide circuit to
get round them HO as to have the
wind In my favor Tbo plain was per
fectly open and only quite short grass
was on It not a tree Tor shrub could be
seen for miles around When 100
yards off the rhinos saw mo and at
once trotted towards us I knelt down
and fired using the LeeSpeed rifle
The very first shot took effect and
caused the old cow to stagger and
rooted her to tho spot But tho young
bull was bent on doing mischief and
I had to shoot him 1 gave him two
shots In rapid succession ho gave a
scream and a snort staggered nnd re
treated to where the old one stood As
ho got near to her bo rolled over with
his feel In tho air but somehow bo
managed to scramble up once moro
staggered a few yards further and
rolled over finally on to his aide In
the meanwhile I gave several shots to
the old one to put her out of pain as
blood was streaming from hor nose
nnd mouth Then she too fell down
and rolled over Curiously enough
their backs wore turned towards each
other and their tails almost touching
The female had a remarkable anterior
It was about this time that I was
compelled to turn from the hunting of
animals to the hunting of men aa the
Wnnyoro rebellion was growing all
around us dally
The feeling of Insecurity and Im
pending disaster scorned present with
every ono for my four servants who
sleep In huts outside the fort at Ma
slndl came to mo in a body and asked
permission to Bleep this night Inside
the fort and near me I gave of
course a ready consent
Darkness had set In and I was In
my huttho medical officers resi
dence In the fort at Maslndl enter
ing In a diary by candle light the
events of tho day This hut consists
of mud walls a grassthatched roof a
mud floor two apertures serving as
windows and closed by wooden shut
ters and a wooden door It was over
run by white ants spiders and rats
Suddenly at 830 p m two men
came running Into my roomFadle
mula Effendi the Soudanese officer In
command and tho headman of Kagan
I li
ENDEAVORING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE ADVANCING RHINOS
my story of having shot a rhino might
have appeared a myth
Stalking the Grass
The second day after a pair of old
rhinos appeared In sight there was a
good deal of grass about and I was
able to stalk up to within a hundred
yards They were almost walking aide
by side grazing as they went along
I aimed behind the right shoulder
using the same LecSpccd rifle On
receiving the bullet the rhino sped
around toward mo and gave a fierce
snort of rage 1 dropped fiat on the
ground to hide myself fully expecting
it would charge nnd trusting It might
not see me In the long grass As It did
not charge I ventured to raise myself
to find out what had become of It
Roth rhinos had disappeared over the I
ridge of tho hill Wo followed with
great caution not knowing If the
wounded rhino might not bo playing a
dangerous game of hldeandseek with
us In the long grass I could see one
rhino racing away In the plain beyond
already a mile or moro beyond our
roach At last we discovered the
other rhino It was dead killed by that
ono shot It was an old bull with a
short but very powerful horn I was
glad that the crowd having come all
this distance to got rhino meat would
not bo disappointed after nil and I left
them chopping up the hugo carcass
In the meanwhile I tried to stalk an
antelope I had soon about a mile off
for just beyond this patch of long
grass the plain wns covered with short
ga our Wanyoro ally Both men were
armed Tho Effendi hurriedly told me
that tho Soudanese sergeant major
when doing his round of patrol Inspec
tion had been set upon by hostile
Wanyoro and had been killed by a
spear thrust in tho hock As I turned
to get my Martini rifle and a lantern
the Effendi rushed away and t did not
see him again till after the occurrence
of the subsequent sad events As I
hurried towards the entrance of the
fort I was accompanied by the Arme
nian clerk and by my servants my
plucky little Wahlma boy keeping
close to my side and carrying my rifle
for me my Arab servant had armed
himself with my second rifle Before
I could reach tho entrance I was met
by a rush of armed Soudanese soldiers
and completely surrounded by thorn
near the corn stores Inside the fort
These corn stores consist of hugo
wicker baskets plastered on the inside i
and on the outside with mud They
are raised above the ground on wood
en trestles about two feet high and
they are protected against sun and
rain by a grassthatched cover resem
bling a candle extinguisher Dry food
such aa Indian corn la stored up In
this manner In anticipation of unfore
seen occurrences
Nearly all tho Soudanese soldiers at
the time Maslndl were raw recruits
When they surrounded me they wore
mad with excitement They had re
fused to listen to their officers volco
and had rushed into the fort against
his direct orders All their rifles were
loaded and wero pointed at me They
J7J tfr 9 7r l Vi
were shouting angrily but as I did not
understand ono word I was fortunate
ly able to remain unmoved My Arab
however understood and ho Bald to
me In Swahnll Master get back to
the house they mean to do you some
harm Even If I had wanted to re
treat I could not have done so as I
was hummed In on all sides It Is sur
prising that one of the rifles In all this
pushing and surging crowd did not go
off by accident and stretch mo dead
A merciful Providence saved my life
end saved HnrrtKv the whole ff TTn
w Y
yoro for my death would have com
mitted the men once for all to throw
in tholr lot with tho mutineers nnd to
fight to tbo bitter end against the
avenging hand of Englands might
which was already overtaking the
other murderers I felt that I was ap
preciably near death for the bearing
of tho soldiers was most menacing
Fortunately the Effendls volco was
heard shouting over and ovor again
It Is not war against tho fort This
no doubt helped to save us and tho
fort None of the soldiers seemed to
know exactly what was to bo the next
step and whether or not It was to be
open mutiny against tho government
They had not yet quite made up their
minds whether I was to ho killed Pre
sumably no ono had a private grudge
to avenge on my person and not ti few
of them may havo been at ono tlmo or
nnothur under my hands for medical
treatment I endeavored to got them
under control by pointing out that thd
fort had to be defended against tho
supposed common enemy Gradually I
regained some authority over them
and they obeyed me so far that they
went to guard varlouc positions which
I Indicated such as the bastions the
powder magazine and the ammunition
store But when 1 wanted to leavo the
fort to attend to what was happening
outside they firmly but politely re
fused to let me out on protext that my
life would bo In danger For a short
time I was practically a prisoner In
side the fort In tho hands of the Sou
danese soldiers
In the meanwhile a number of shots
wore being fired outsldo the fort and
the sky had become lurid with burning
huts Tho first rumor as brought to
me by Fadlomula Effendi that the
sergeant major had been killed bv
Wauyoro at Bckambas kraal no doubt
led to the Insubordinate soldiers at
tacking Bekama The unfortunate
chief requested to be taken to the fort
and had reached In lih cart the open
space In front of the fort when some
of the soldiers ordered the man who
pulled Bckftnibas cart to lie down and
then some ono shot him through the
back dead on the spot Thereupon
another soldier blew out Bokamhas
brains The dead bodies were plun
dered and stripped r
When the Effondi joined mo I man
aged with him to leave the fort In
order to put a stop to the disturbances
going on outside Tho burning kraals
had made tho night as light as day A
dreadful sight met my eye There I
near the fort lay the naked bodies of
Chief Bokamba and one of his men
Some wretches had set fire to Bekam
bao body and the flesh was burning
As the crackling flames flickered
around tho abdomen the frizzling of
tho flesh was horrible and sickening
It recalled to my mind stories read In
my boyhood of red Indians torturing
a white man to death by stretching
him out on the ground and heaping
firo on his abdomen With the assist
ance of my servant I pulled Beknmbas
body from the burning brands and ex
tinguished the flumes I looked at his I
wounds Death must have been in I
stantaneous and therefore he was
spared the torturo of being roasted
The kraal of Kajanga our friendly
ally bad also been set on fire and had
been looted Thero wore a number of
cartridges In his hut and as thoso took
fire their crackerlike popping off
ren
dered It dangerous to approach too
nonr his kraal Somo of the bullctv
foil close to my feet
I now asked to lea tho dead l body ot
tho sergeant major spited to have
been killed at tbo outbreak of these
disturbances I found him lying on a
couch In his own hut encircled by n
oympathlzlng crowd of woman and
friends all waiting for him to breathe
his last Not one of them attempted
to staunch tho flow of blood from hilt
wound I bad him quickly removed to
tho rt and converted one of the
buildings into a temporary hospital
Though ho bad a dangerous spear
wound In his back below the right
shoulder his life was ultimately
saved
Next morning we burled tho dead
Beknmba one of his wives and twc
Wanyoro But como fugitives carried
the nows of theso occurrences to llol
ma two days march from us where a
Soudanoso captain was In charge of
the fort YabuswezI the great AVnnyo
ro chief has his kraal about n mile
from Fort Holma Some fugitives re
ported to him that I too had bcon
killed He thereupon put himself on
the defensive This led to the Sou
danese captain ordering him to como
to the fort and on his refusal to do so
attacking his drank Thus tho mero
rumor of my death led to further
bloodshed for tho Soudanese soldiers
killed about fifty of the Wunyoro under
YabuawtuI captured some fiftyfour oi
his women and looted and burned his
kraal YabuswezI himself led ovor
the border with the Intention of pro
ceeding to Kampala
The military officer In command of
Unyoro having received my letter
speedily joined mo Orders wore also
received from headquarters that In
view of the advance of the mutineers
toward Unyoro It was necessary to
prevent the government ammunition
from falling Into their hands I was
ordered thereupon to march with half
n company of Soudanese soldiers
then at Maslndl to a place called 1
Ntutl In Slngo I was to take charge
og 21 loads of ammunition a Maxim
gun and tools and belts for the gun
On tho march to Ntutl I passed
through Holma and found seven of
the Manyoro woinon still retained as
captives by Soudanese soldiers al
though orders had been sent by tho
I commanding officer that all were tube
liberated I therefore hnd theso
seven women set free
I met YabuswezI rind persuaded him
to return to his province
1he ostensible reason of my depar
ture from Maslndl with the halt com
pany of Soudanese the Maxim gun
and the ammunition was supposed to
bo the necessity of holding Ntuti In
Singo against the rebel king Wyam
ga We arrived at Ntutl In a couplo
of days orders from headquarters
reached mo to march on to Kampala
where the soldiers were promptly dis
armed and the Maxim gun and ammu
nition safely lodged In the fort I had
an anxious time fo it from Mnslndl to
Kampala First of all because tho
soldiers over which I had temporary
command wore some of tho men who
a few days previously had murdered
Bckamba and had endangered my own
life they wore at heart disloyal and
they had very nearly openly mutinied F
Secondly the Maxim gun and the 21
loads of ammunition would have
strengthened tho mutineers enormous
ly If they could have managed to In
tercept me on tho march
It was a groat relict to mo when on
arrival at Kampala my military com
mand ended A few days later Cnpt
Harrison gained a final success over
time mutineers which practically ended
the mutiny though It cost the life oJ
one moro European Capt Maloney
who was dagerously wounded In the
attack and succumbed to his Injuries
Capt Fielding and Capt Macdonal
full In the earlier engagements
Copj right 1M9 by BenJ 13 Hampton
1T Among the African Pigmies 99 is the next article in this remarkable series It was J
fJ Captain Guy Burrows late Commandant of the Congo who wrote the article on African
Cannibals that attracted such wide attention It is a strange story of a strange people
I 1 k
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