Rhino Summary and Analysis

Chapter 7 is the shortest in the text, only one-half the size of the average chapter. Rhinoceros hunting receives less attention even than the snake wrangling considered in Chapter 8. This is for two reasons. First, Capstick has limited experience hunting the animals, and second, because wild rhinoceroses have become rare. Capstick finds little sporting quality in rhinoceros shooting, and many of his kills have been necessitated by self-defense rather than as sporting trophies. In any event, rhinoceros trophies are generally restricted from import into many countries regardless of whether they are legal trophies or not.

The chapter opens with a rhinoceros charge. Silent, sick with malaria, has been replaced by the young tracker Charlie. Capstick, the client, and the trackers hear a charging animal well in advance and take up defensive positions behind trees. Three rhinoceroses burst through the area—a...