504 A SPORTIXG TRIP THROUGH ABYSSINIA 



a label with this number punched on it. The label is simply the flattened 

 out top of an empty cartridge case, with a hole ready drilled through, and 

 string attached. Five of these will be required for each large horned 

 animal ; if the sportsman grudges the trouble of making them, and does 

 not mind a little additional weight, they can be taken out ready stamped, a 

 good size being | inch by | inch, with rounded corners. 



Somalis are, as a rule, excellent skinners. Abyssinians are not so 

 good, and require more watching. See that whoever cuts the throat of the 

 beast makes only a small hole in the skin close under the jaw, and beware 

 of any stranger armed with a knife, or by the time you reach the carcase of 

 some rare specimen you may find both ears slashed off, the head nearly 

 severed from the body, and the belly cut open to get at the warm liver. If it 

 is intended to keep the whole skin for mounting or for a museum specimen, 

 begin the longitudinal cut at the point of the breast-bone, and make those 

 down the upper part of the legs on the inside, where they will show least 

 when set up. Make the cut at the back of the neck only long enough to 

 get the skull out. As soon as the skin is freed as much as possible from 

 all flesh and fat, paint the head, feet, and the edges all round with 

 preservative,^ then spread it, fur-side-down, in the shade, stuff the neck 

 lightly with dry grass, and support it and the head by a stick thrust into 

 the ground. The edges must be watched or they will curl up ; a little cold 

 wood-ash, dry sand or earth rubbed in, and a bit of stick or stone laid on 

 it will put this right. The mouth and ears must also be watched and 

 propped up to ensure their drying. Before the skin gets too dry (a little 

 experience will soon show when this occurs, while no amount of explanation 

 can) turn the neck hair-side out, replace the stick, but not the grass, and 

 spread the skin hair-side up. While the skin can still be folded without 

 cracking, flatten out the neck and head, ears uppermost, double the neck 

 back into the skin, and the head forward again, double the sides of the 

 belly in, and fold the legs so that the feet will not be in the way of the 

 head-skin, then fold the whole across once or twice, when the result should 

 be a flat symmetrical oblong bundle. It will be some time before the skin 

 is dry enough to pack away, but it should be folded and tied up every 

 evening, or it will be impossible to make it into a neat flat packet. When 

 quite dry, sprinkle a little naphthaline on the head, and cover it in a loose 

 cotton bag to prevent its rubbing. The hoofs should have some paper or 

 grass wrapped round them and be sewn up, or they will gradually rub great 

 patches of skin bare of hair. 



If only the head skin is to be saved, cut it right back on the shoulders 

 and well down between the forelegs ; remember more skin is required below 



^ See Rowland Ward's Sportsman's Hand-Book to Practical Collecting, etc. 



