226 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
and the other seventy-five pounds. The first bullet that I 
had shot from my .577 had done the work, as it had passed 
clear through the ear of the elephant and lodged against 
the body of the first cervical vertebra, producing a fatal 
lesion in the spinal cord. 
On the morning of the 8th of May I started with sixteen 
Amara porters and twenty Somalis for Lake Abaya. But 
what a time I had with these so-called porters! I had the 
greatest difficulty in getting them to carry loads of only 
twenty pounds apiece. We could not even take donkeys 
with us, as the Galana was flooded, and the ascent of 
the Konso range was reported to be very rough, so I had 
to content myself with carrying only the most necessary 
articles, such as my instruments, spirit-jars, and other 
boxes for collecting natural-history specimens, and a few 
bags of meal. 
We crossed the river in the little canvas boat, and by 
three o'clock in the afternoon we had left the plain of the 
Galana and were commencing to climb the mountains. An 
Amara guide led the way, followed by myself and Aden 
Aoule, to whom I had given my .577 to carry. We were 
going up a very narrow, bushy, and steep pass, when sud- 
denly, just as we were only ten yards from the top, a female 
rhinoceros dashed down upon us from behind a bush, where 
she had been waiting for us, with the rapidity of a cat. She 
made a great row, snorting and puffing and sending the 
stones clattering down the path from under her feet as she 
charged into my poor guide. I managed to plunge in the 
nick of time into a dense thorn-bush, while the guide was 
tossed several feet into the air. I could have touched the 
beast as she passed me, but her eyes were fixed on Aden 
Aoule, and on him she now vented her wrath. She had 
him flat on the ground in an instant, and proceeded to 
probe his back with herhorn. But fortunately a rhinoceros 
