making a somersault to the
earth. There was no necessity for Hendrik to waste any ammunition upon
him. He had fallen in the agonies of death; and, without even waiting
for his last kick, Willem took hold of one of his hind legs and
commenced dragging the carcass towards the camp.

The camp was not far-away, and they soon came within sight of it. To
their surprise they saw that it was in a state of commotion. The horses
and cattle were running in all directions, and so too were the men!

What could it mean?

The answer was obtained by their seeing a huge dark form standing in the
middle of the camp. They recognised it as the body of a black
rhinoceros, one of the largest kind. The fierce brute had taken his
stand in the middle of the camping-ground, and seemed undecided as to
which of the fugitives he should follow. His ill-humour had arisen from
the circumstance that, on seeking the place where he was in the habit of
quenching his thirst, he had found it occupied by strange intruders.

A black rhinoceros would not hesitate to charge upon a whole regiment of
cavalry; and the manner in which the one in question had introduced
himself to the camp was so impetuous as to cause a precipitate retreat
both of man and beast,--in short, everything that was free to get off.
One of the young giraffes had been too strongly secured to effect its
escape. It was struggling on the ground, and by its side was an ox that
the borele had capsized in his first impetuous onset. The second of the
giraffes was fleeing over the plain, and had already gone farther from
the camp than any of the other animals. It seemed not only inspired by
fear, but a renewed love of liberty.

The borele soon selected an object for his pursuit, which was one of the
pack-horses, and then charged right after him.

Meanwhile Willem and Hendrik hastened on to the camp, where they were
joined by two of the Makololo. All the others had gone off after the
cattle and horses. The giraffe, in its efforts to escape, had thrown
itself upon the ground, and was fastened in such a way that it was in
danger of being strangled in the rheims around its neck. As though to
insure its death, the ox that had been gored by the borele became
entangled in the same fastenings, and tightened them by his violent
struggles.

The first care of the returned hunters was to release the young giraffe.
This could have been done immediately by setting it free from its
fastening