The only chance in the race was to hold the pace until the rhinoceroses should begin.
to flag.

The horses were pressed to the utmost; but we had already run about two miles, and the game showed no signs of giving in.

On they flew, sometimes over open ground, then through low bush, which tried the horses severely, then through strips of open forest, until at length the party began to tail off, and only a select few kept their places.
We arrived at the summit of a ridge, from which the ground sloped in a gentle inclination for about a mile toward the river.

At the foot of this incline was thick thorny nabbuk jungle, for which impenetrable covert the rhinoceroses pressed at their utmost speed.
Never was there better ground for the finish of a race.

The earth was sandy, but firm, and as we saw the winning-post in the jungle that must terminate the hunt, we redoubled our exertions to close with the unflagging game.