246 UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



though clean severed by the accident. In the course of 

 months a good deal of the original movement was restored to 

 the injured part. 



My third rhino was again an old bull. I shot it near the 

 Kiboko river, to the west side of the caravan route. There was 

 a good deal of bush about, which made it easy to stalk to within 

 twenty yards of the rhino. I used the Martini rifle. I preferred, 

 owing to the position of the rhino, to try the shoulder-shot. At 

 once it turned to charge, but it was evidently mortally wounded, 

 for it staggered, as it gored at the nearest bush. A second bullet, 

 fired at the head, entered the brain and rolled it over. One man 

 went off to carry the welcome news to the caravan and to act as 

 guide to those who were willing to fetch the meat-supply to the 

 camp. In the meanwhile another of my men began to cut up 

 the rhino. 



The hide of rhinos and hippos is greatly valued in Africa 

 because of the durable, one might say imperishable, whips 

 and thongs which it provides. The hide is cut up into long 

 narrow strips of suitable length. These are dried in the open 

 air by being suspended vertically from the branch of a tree. 

 The lower end of each strip is weighted with a very heavy 

 stone. I sent some flaps of rhino-hide to London and had 

 a tea-table made out of them, preserving the natural black 

 and rough appearance of the skin. But there is a process by 

 which the skin can be made more or less transparent, and 

 shaped into bowls and similar fancy articles, which have the 

 appearance of polished amber. Rhino feet and hippo feet, 

 when set and mounted with the toe-nails polished, yield other 

 interesting curios in the shape of door-stops, flower-pots, and 

 boxes. 



Some of my men made a fire and cooked pieces of the rhino- 

 meat, whilst others were engaged in cutting up the body. My 

 boy roasted on a green spit some of the liver for me ; it was 

 beautifully tender and very good indeed. When the heart was 

 removed, it was found that the bullet had gone right through it, 

 tearing a hole an inch in diameter. It is astonishing how, with 

 such a mortal wound, the animal could have had the strength to 

 gore at the bush. The right ear of this rhino was slit and torn 

 in two places, but these were old wounds, probably got in some 

 fight. 



The last time I passed by the Kiboko river, I came, to the 



