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The Land of Footprints-Part31_Stewart Edward White(1873-1946)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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tries, while Dugmore, in a different part of the country, was so



chivied about that he finally left the district to avoid killing

any more of the brutes in self-defence!



The fact of the matter is that the rhinoceros is neither animated

by the implacable man-destroying passion ascribed to him by the



amateur hunter, nor is he so purposeless and haphazard in his

rushes as some would have us believe. On being disturbed his



instinct is to get away. He generally tries to get away in the

direction of the disturbance, or upwind, as the case may be. If



he catches sight of the cause of disturbance he is apt to try to

trample and gore it, whatever it is. As his sight is short, he



will sometimes so inflictpunishment on unoffending bushes. In

doing this he is probably not animated by a consuming destructive



blind rage, but by a naturally pugnacious desire to eliminate

sources of annoyance. Missing a definite object, he thunders



right through and disappears without trying again to discover

what has aroused him.



This first rush is not a charge in the sense that it is an attack

on a definite object. It may not, and probably will not, amount



to a charge at all, for the beast will blunder through without

ever defining more clearly the object of his blind dash. That



dash is likely, however, at any moment, to turn into a definite

charge should the rhinoceros happen to catch sight of his



disturber. Whether the impelling motive would then be a mistaken

notion that on the part of the beast he was so close he had to



fight, or just plain malice, would not matter. At such times the

intended victim is not interested in the rhino's mental



processes.

Owing to his size, his powerful armament, and his incredible



quickness the rhinoceros is a dangerous animal at all times, to

be treated with respect and due caution. This is proved by the



number of white men, out of a sparse population, that are

annually tossed and killed by the brutes, and by the promptness



with which the natives take to trees-thorn trees at that!-when

the cry of faru! is raised. As he comes rushing in your



direction, head down and long weaponpointed, tail rigidly erect,

ears up, the earth trembling with his tread and the air with his



snorts, you suddenly feel very small and ineffective.

If you keep cool, however, it is probable that the encounter will



result only in a lot of mental perturbation for the rhino and a

bit of excitement for yourself. If there is any cover you should



duck down behind it and move rapidly but quietly to one side or

another of the line of advance. If there is no cover, you should



crouch low and hold still. The chances are he will pass to one

side or the other of you, and go snorting away into the distance.



Keep your eye on him very closely. If he swerves definitely in

your direction, AND DROPS HIS HEAD A LITTLE LOWER, it would be



just as well to open fire. Provided the beast was still far

enough away to give me "sea-room," I used to put a small bullet



in the flesh of the outer part of the shoulder. The wound thus

inflicted was not at all serious, but the shock of the bullet



usually turned the beast. This was generally in the direction of

the wounded shoulder, which would indicate that the brute turned



toward the apparent source of the attack, probably for the

purpose of getting even. At any rate, the shot turned the rush to



one side, and the rhinoceros, as usual, went right on through.

If, however, he seemed to mean business, or was too close for



comfort, the point to aim for was the neck just above the lowered

horn.



In my own experience I came to establish a "dead line" about

twenty yards from myself. That seemed to be as near as I cared to



let the brutes come. Up to that point I let them alone on the

chance that they might swerve or change their minds, as they



often did. But inside of twenty yards, whether the rhinoceros

meant to charge me, or was merely runningblindly by, did not



particularly matter. Even in the latter case he might happen to

catch sight of me and change his mind. Thus, looking over my



notebook records, I find that I was "charged" forty odd

times-that is to say, the rhinoceros rushed in my general



direction. Of this lot I can be sure of but three, and possibly

four, that certainly meant mischief. Six more came so directly at



us, and continued so to come, that in spite of ourselves we were

compelled to kill them. The rest were successfully dodged.






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