THE LION-ROPER AT WORK.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10488, 22 June 1910, Page 2

THE LION-ROPER AT WORK.

BUFFALO JONES AND A RHINO-

CEROS

(Guy H. Scull.) Soda Swamp Camp, (British East- Africa.) Somehow everything seems to happen on "moving" day with the Buffalo Jones expedition here in East Africa. What occurred on the other "moving" days has no place in this story, button this particular occasion we met our first rhinoeerous —a big bull —aiid the colonial and the cowboys roped him and fought him for five hours in the hot sunlight before he was beaten. It'was a little —a very little-*—like playing a large fish on a light line. In the' beginning the rhino, dragged the horses all alxmt, even though the horses planted their four feet firmly on the ground, as they were trained to do with cattle, but in the end the horses dragged the rhino. —dragged him up to a clump of thorn trees, where the cowboys tied him properly heeled, with all the ropes at hand. We were shifting camp from Webbe Farm to the Soda Swamp, about twelve miles distant, when Colonel Jones, w r ho had gone out scouting by the way, flushed a big rhino, in the bottom of the next valley to the west. No sooner had this news reached the trekking safari than the rest of the expedition, including the two cowboys Loveless and Means, and Kearton and Gobbett with the moving picture cameras, started on a wide detour of some four or five miles to approach the beast from down the wind. When we found the colonel he was dismounted and well concealed ,behind some scrub, keeping watch, on the rhino., who was lying down about three hundred yards beyond. . There followed a short, whispered conference while girths were tightened and ropes shaken loose. That a hard fight was coming was evident enough, and Kearton crept forward on foot with his apparatus to catch the beginning of the show. It was then one o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was cloudless, and the sunshine was hot in the bottom of the valley.

At the whir of the camera the great beast rose up on his short legs and tossed his head and sniffed the air and snorted. Then with surprising quickness he wheeled and broke away south, down the scrub-grown valley. At once the colonel and the boys were after _him on the run, and the camera department limbered up in a hurry and came thundering along behind. For a good three miles the rhino, never paused. Then he came into more open country, dotted iiorc and there with small thorn -trees. In one place there was a fair-sized pool of water left over from the rains of the night before. Into the water the rhino, splashed and stopping faced the horsemen.

The chase had strung out considerably, for the horses with the cameras had to carry the men and the cameras too, and they had been chosen more for strength than speed. Behind these again came the negro porters with the extra film boxes and tripods. While the chase was coining up the rhino, kept the horsemen busy. Time after time he came plunging out of the water to charge the nearest assailant, and the horsemen had to ride hard to escape. There were many close calls and the ground was bad with ant-bear holes, so' that a fail would bring disaster, but the rhino.'s continual charging had nevertheless to be encouraged to"holn however little, to wear the animal out.

Then a chance came to throw a rope. Means, with a quick turn, caught the rhino.'round the neck, and the horse fell back on his haunches to hold fast, but the rope parted and the beast was free once more. At the next attempt Loveless caught him by one of his hind legs, and the rhino.'decided to shift his base of operations to an ant-hill in the adjacent clearing. His mode of progression was to walk on three legs and to drag Loveless' horse after him with the ether. He readied the ant-hiil and demolished it, and paused for a breathing-spell. Here the cameras caught up with the chase,' Cherry Koarton went into action on the north, Gobbett on the south, near a small thorn tree, with a negro porter beside him. The rhino, saw Gnbbett's camera and charged. The porter went up the tree like a flash, but the tree was so small there was not room for two, and Gobbett was compelled to abandon his camera and retreat. With'.'an upward stroke of his horn the rhino, sent the apparatus riving. Then Means succeeded in attracting his attention, and he charged the horseman instead. Gobbett'pieked up the debris, found that the tripod-head was split clean in two as with an axe. found the camera it-, self undamaged, found there was enough head left to support the camera, quickly mounted his machine again, and was' just in time to catch the end of the rhino's chase after Moans-.

From one position to another, from ant-hill to thorn tree, and back to ant-hill once more, the fight went on til rough the long hot afternoon. Ropes were 'thrown and caught and broken, mended, and thrown again. The horses were pulled, all standing, one way and another. Rolls of _ films were used up and, replaced by fresh ones. The rhino, sulked and stormed and charged in turn. Once the colonel was nearly caught. There was scarcely daylight between his horse's tail and the tip-thrust of the rhino's head. Once, with the rope on the rhino's neck, Loveless' saddle turned, and he had to jump clear to avoid the impending fall. Again it was Kearton's Masai boy who poised his spear aloft to defend his master. As the afternoon wore away, little by little tho rhino, showed signs of weakening. He -fottercd once and lay down, then got up and charged feebly. Tho horses moved him then —dragged him inch by inch to a clump of thorns, where the cowboys tied him fast.