XXI 



HORNS 



ON entering the house of settlers, the halls of hotels, 

 the billiard-rooms of clubs and similar places in British 

 East Africa, the first thing that arrests the attention of 

 visitors is the display of horns, especially those of 

 antelopes. In a large collection there are, as a rule, 

 the horns of a rhinoceros. 



Horns usurp the place occupied by pictures in 

 similar institutions in European cities and towns : they 

 are usually attached to the walls of the room, or the 

 verandah, by means of that portion of the skull from 

 which they grow. In many specimens the horns with 

 their sheaths remain attached to the skull ; in others 

 the skin of the head and neck is preserved and carefully 

 stuffed. It is not common to find stuffed heads, 

 because the ants soon destroy the skin. 



In order to appreciate the significance of these hunt- 

 ing trophies, those who visit Eastern Ethiopia should 

 devote their attention to horns in general. 



Among mammals, horns are of four kinds : 



(a) Solid horns or antlers like those of deer. 



(b) Hollow horns which decorate the heads of oxen, 

 sheep, goats, and antelopes. 



(c) Solid skin-covered horns which exist in giraffes. 



(d) Cutaneous horns, such as grow on the nose of the 

 rhinoceros and the tail of the elephant. 



Antlers, which are such conspicuous features on the 



heads of the red and the fallow deer so common in 



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