A DISTURBANCE OVER THE SPOIL. 113 



flaying and cutting up. Albert stood by an observant 

 watcher of the exciting scene, and, catching sight of a 

 two -inch hippo, he laid claim to it, and afterwards 

 brought it home in great triumph as an addition to our 

 museum curiosities. It is now safely deposited in a 

 bottle of spirits, one of a set we had fitted carefully into 

 a box for such purpose before leaving England. 



One would almost imagine that there was not another 

 rhinoceros in the country, so great has been the row 

 this evening in camp about the division of the hide 

 all wanting one of the eight pieces into which it had 

 been divided for shields, the young soldier not being 

 behindhand in putting in his claim and it became 

 necessary to administer a little law on this matter. We 

 have settled that, after we have taken what we may 

 require for specimens or for occasional presents to our 

 own staff and to the two soldiers, each of our hunters will 

 have in turn their choice of the remainder, according to 

 which of us has killed the animal ; and that our camel-men 

 are to consider they have no claim whatever to the 

 hides, for they have every reason to be well content with 

 the enormous quantities of meat they are daily pre- 

 serving for their families in the way already mentioned. 

 Though we have ordered this drying process to be 

 carried on well away from the camp, we have often much 

 cause to object to it, for frequently a faint odour pervades 

 the camp, especially the first part of the night, when the 



I 



