CURIOUS HEADGEAR.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 21, Issue 90, 6 December 1910, Page 2

CURIOUS HEADGEAR.

In the first portion of the third ol •the articles to the "Daily Telegraph" describing the incidents of his biggame expedition in Uganda, ex-Presi-dent Roosevelt, after giving some amusing particulars of the native hearers, etc., accompanying him, treats his readers to a graphic description of the killing of his first rhino, Avhich was quite an exciting experience, and with the failure of a shot would have proved disastrous to the intrepid hunters, "Next morning," he says, "we started for another water-hole at the rocky hill of Bondoni, about eight miles distant. Camp was broken as early in the day as possible. Bach man had his allotted task, and the tents, bedding, provisions, and all else were \expeditiously made into suitable packages. Bach porter is supposed to carry from fifty-five to sixty pounds, which may all be in one bundle or in two or three. The American flag, which flew over my tent, was a matter of much pride to the porters, and was always at the head, or near the head, of the line of march, and after it in single file came the long line of burden bearers. Their headgear varied according to the fancy of the individual. Normally it was a red fez, a kind of cap only used in hot climates, and exquisitely designed to be useless therein, because it gives absolutely no protection from the sun. But one would wear a skin cap ; another would suddenly put one or more long feathers in his fez ; and another, discarding the fez, would revert to some purely savage head- | dress which he would wear with equal gravity, whether it were, in our eyes, really decorative or merely comic. One such head-dress, for in-, stance, consisted of the skin of the top of -a zebra's head, with the two ears. Another was made of the skins of squirrels, with the tails both sticking up and hanging down. Another consisted of a bunch of feathers woven into the hair, which itself was pulled out into strings that were stiffened with clay. Another was really too intricate for description, because it included the man's natural hair, some strips of skin, and an empty tin can." "The following morning," Mr. Roosevelt continues, '"I rode out with Captain Slatter. We k'ept among the hills. The long drought was still unbroken. The little pools were dry, and their bottoms baked like iron, and there was not a drop in the watercourses. Part of the land was open and part covered with a thin forest or bush of scattered mimosa trees. In the open country were many zebras and hartebeests, and the latter were found even in the thin bush. In the morning we found a small herd of eland, at which after some stalking, Ijgot a long shot and missed.

"The morning was a blank; but early in the afternoon we saw the eland herd again, and though I could not get a good chance at the bull I finally downed a fine cow. It was about nine miles from camp, and I dared' not leave the eland alone, so I stationed' one of the gun-bearers by the great carcase and sent a messenger into Heller, on whom we depended for preserving the skins of the big game. Hardly had this been done when a Wkamba man came running up to teH us that there was, a rhino on the hillside three-quarters of a mile away, and that he had left a companion to watch it while he carried us the news. Slatter and I immediately rode in the direction given, following our wild-looking guide, the other gunbearer trotting after us. In five minutes we had reached the opposite hill-crest, where the watcher stood, and he at once pointed out the rhino. The huge bsast was standing in entirely open country, although there were a few scattered trees of no great size <at some little distance from him. We left our horses in a dip of the ground and began the approach. So little did he dream of our presence that when we were a hundred yards off he actually lay down. Walking lightly, and with every nerve keyed up, we at last reached the bush, and I pushed forward the safety of the double-barrelled Holland rifle which I was now to use for the first time on big game. As I stepped to one side of the bush so as to get a clear aim, with Slatter following, the rhino saw me, and jumped to his feet with the agility of a polo pony. As he rose I put in the right barrel, the bullet going through both lungs. At the same moment he' wheeled, the blood spouting from his nostrils, and galloped full on us. Before he could get quite all the way round in his headlong rush to reach us, I struck him with my. left-hand barrel, the bullet entering between the neck and shoulder and piercing his heart. At the same instant Captain Slatter fired, his bullet entering the neck vertebrae. Ploughing up the ground with horn and feet, the great bull rhino, still head towards us, dropped just thirteen paces from where we stood. This was a wicked charge, for the rhino meant mischief, and came on with- the utmost determination." If it had been a lion instead of a rhino,' Mr. Roosevelt believes his first bullet would have knocked all the charge out of it ; but the vitality of the huge pachyderm was so great, its mere bulk counted for so much, that even such a hard-hitting rifle as his double Holland—than which he does not believe there exists a better weapon for heavy game—could not stop it outrigkt, although either of the wounds inflicted would have been fatal in a few seconds.