The astute observer will notice the lack of a "Part 11". This is due to the inability of a tired and useless old fart to be able to count, so he labeled the last two installments both as "10".
"Our guide told us of the experiences of some hunters, where the hunters had gotten treed by the buffalo, and then the buffalo would lay down under the tree and wait for the hunter, and sometimes, it would take a couple of days before the hunter could get out of the tree."
(I remember reading a short story one time where a hunter was treed by a buffalo, dropping his 1911 as he climbed the tree. The story revolved around his repeated attempts to snag the pistol with a line, using his pocket knife as a "hook". Eventually, he succeeded in retrieving the pistol and killed the buffalo with it.
Also, I once bow hunted on a piece of property that contained a cantankerous old bitch of a cow that hated me and would come looking for me. I spent many an evening in a tree long after I wanted to leave waiting for the damned critter to get tired of waiting for me to come down and leave.)
"Late in the afternoon of the next day, we again turned our attention to rhinoceros hunting, but the doctor stayed in camp as he was tired. We were fortunate in locating a rhinoceros before sundown. We could hear him in the tall grass and bushes, but we couldn't see him. We kept maneuvering around, trying to follow him, hoping he would come out in the clearing where we could see him. He did finally come out into the small clearing where we got a glimpse of him at a distance of about one hundred feet. However, he evidently got our scent as he took off into the brush and disappeared without us getting a shot at him.
We were told that the rhinoceros was one of the four most dangerous animals to hunt in Africa. The other three were the elephant, lion, and buffalo. There seems to be some difference of opinion among the hunters as to just which one of the four is the most dangerous.
The next day we left camp early in the afternoon, drove to a native village in a different direction, where we engaged another local native to lead us to some rhinoceros. We had to wait for some time for the native who was going with us to come home. When he did arrive, it was almost sundown. We left the hunting car at the native village and walked perhaps half a mile across a small plain, started into the brush or hillside, where the local native picked up a fresh rhino trail. We followed this trail, zig-zagging through the brush and weeds for some distance. Frequently the native would stop to listen, and of course, we all had to be very quiet. Before going very far we could hear a rhinoceros in the tall weeds and bushes."
To be continued.
Last edited by 5sdad; 10/21/20.
