Hence the old kobaoba had no intention of yielding ground to the elephant; and from his attitude, it was plain that he neither intended to sneak off under the other's belly, nor swim a single stroke for him.

No--not a stroke.
It remained to be seen how the point of honour was to be decided.

The attitude of affairs had become so interesting, that every one by the camp was gazing with fixed eyes upon the two great bulls--for the rhinoceros was also a "bull" and of the largest size known of his kind.
For several minutes they stood eyeing each other.

The elephant, although much the larger, knew his antagonist well.

He had met his "sort" before, and knew better than to despise his powers.