There were seven of us,--and passing Abou Do, whose face wore an
expression of agony at finding that his horse was failing, I
quickly obtained a place between the two brothers, Taher and
Roder Sheriff. There had been a jealousy between the two parties
of aggageers, and each was striving to outdo the other; thus Abou
Do was driven almost to madness at the superiority of Taher's
horse, while the latter, who was the renowned hunter of the
tribe, was determined that his sword should be the first to taste
blood. I tried to pass the rhinoceros on my left, so as to fire
close into the shoulder my remaining barrel with my right hand,
but it was impossible to overtake the animals, who bounded along
with undiminished speed. With the greatest exertion of men and
horses we could only retain our position within about three or
four yards of their tails--just out of reach of the swords. The
only chance in the race was to hold the pace until the rhinoceros
should begin to flag. The horses were pressed to the utmost; but
we had already run about two miles, and the game showed no signs
of giving in. On they flew,--sometimes over open ground, then
through low bush, which tried the horses severely; then through
strips of open forest, until at length the party began to tail
off, and only a select few kept their places.
Pages:
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435