72 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



'eighties shot very large numbers of them. Sir John 

 Willoughby, Sir Robert Harvey, and two friends, 

 bagged in their expedition, made in the year 1886, 

 as many as fifty of these animals. All this seems 

 rather senseless slaughter ; there were no fine 

 trophies to be acquired ; and the sportsman seems 

 usually to have shot for the mere purpose of killing. 

 It was, until quite recently, supposed that none but 

 weapons of heavy calibre were fitted for attacking 

 this huge mammal. Mr. Selous and others have ex- 

 ploded that theory, and still more lately Mr. Neu- 

 mann has proved that even so slender a missile as 

 the .303 bullet (the solid military pattern) is quite 

 sufficient to account for these animals. Many 

 sportsmen of great experience still hold, however, 

 with the larger bores and a heavy bullet of great 

 smashing power. A double 8-bore of the Paradox 

 type is a first-rate weapon for this kind of game. 

 A still more preferable arm, in the writer's opinion, 

 would be one of the latest .450 rifles, burning cordite 

 powder and delivering with the solid bullet a blow of 

 enormous striking force. A double barrel of this 

 kind is, in my opinion, an ideal weapon for all kinds 

 of heavy game. For rhinoceros, which are extremely 

 thick-skinned beasts, the bullets should be slightly 

 hardened. 



In Somaliland and Abyssinia, and among Soudan 

 Arabs, the hide is in much request for the purpose of 

 making shields. As many as fifteen to thirty 

 fighting shields can be cut from a single rhino skin. 

 In Abyssinia, only the men of higher importance are 



