Maiwa's Revenge; Or, The War of the Little HandHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
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Maiwa's Revenge; Or, The War of the Little Hand
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Africa -- Fiction; Hunting guides -- Fiction; Quatermain, Allan (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Revenge -- Fiction
“But it was clear to me that he was sleeping with one eye open, being
generally in a suspicious and unchristian frame of mind, and that it
was useless to proceed further on this stalk, so we quietly withdrew to
consider the position and study the ground. The results were not
satisfactory. There was absolutely no cover about except the ant-heap,
which was some three hundred yards from the rhinoceros upon his up-wind
side. I knew that if I tried to stalk him in front I should fail, and
so I should if I attempted to do so from the further side—he or the
birds would see me; so I came to a conclusion: I would go to the
ant-heap, which would give him my wind, and instead of stalking him I
would let him stalk me. It was a bold step, and one which I should
never advise a hunter to take, but somehow I felt as though rhino and I
must play the hand out.
“I explained my intentions to the men, who both held up their arms in
horror. Their fears for my safety were a little mitigated, however,
when I told them that I did not expect them to come with me.
“Gobo breathed a prayer that I might not meet Fate walking about, and
the other one sincerely trusted that my spirit might look my way when
the rhinoceros charged, and then they both departed to a place of
safety.
“Taking my eight-bore, and half-a-dozen spare cartridges in my pocket,
I made a détour, and reaching the ant-heap in safety lay down. For a
moment the wind had dropped, but presently a gentle puff of air passed
over me, and blew on towards the rhinoceros. By the way, I wonder what
it is that smells so strong about a man? Is it his body or his breath?
I have never been able to make out, but I saw it stated the other day,
that in the duck decoys the man who is working the ducks holds a little
piece of burning turf before his mouth, and that if he does this they
cannot smell him, which looks as though it were the breath. Well,
whatever it was about me that attracted his attention, the rhinoceros
soon smelt me, for within half a minute after the puff of wind had
passed me he was on his legs, and turning round to get his head up
wind. There he stood for a few seconds and sniffed, and then he began
to move, first of all at a trot, then, as the scent grew stronger, at a
furious gallop. On he came, snorting like a runaway engine, with his
tail stuck straight up in the air; if he had seen me lie down there he
could not have made a better line. It was rather nervous work, I can
tell you, lying there waiting for his onslaught, for he looked like a
mountain of flesh. I determined, however, not to fire till I could
plainly see his eye, for I think that rule always gives one the right
distance for big game; so I rested my rifle on the ant-heap and waited
for him, kneeling. At last, when he was about forty yards away, I saw
that the time had come, and aiming straight for the middle of the chest
I pulled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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