SUPERSTITIO'S ABOUT RHINOCEROS HORN. 115. 



stand some chance of being so. Gumming has unfor- 

 tunately sprained his shoulder by the great recoil of his 

 twelve-bore rifle, when firing a hardened ball, and it is so 

 swollen that he will probably be crippled for some days. 



Feb. 4. This has been a very busy day for the Arabs, 

 owing to the quantity of meat brought into the camp 

 yesterday. A few have devoted their time to cutting up 

 the hide of the hippo into long strips, to be ultimately 

 converted into whips (koorbatches), whilst others have 

 prepared the segments of the rhinoceros' hide previous 

 to being sent to the village for conversion into the much 

 coveted shields, or have cut up the remnant into sandals. 



Excepting the pleasure of killing such big game, the 

 Arabs have in fact all the advantage, for there is nothing 

 of these animals worth bringing home as trophies beyond 

 a specimen shield, the teeth of the hippo, and the horns 

 of the rhinoceros. Ugly as these last-named are, there 

 will be some satisfaction in keeping them, as they have 

 at least an imaginary value in this country, and might 

 consequently prove very useful in the future as presents. 

 In Cairo they realise from six to ten pounds each, ac- 

 cording to their size. 



Their value is due to an Arab superstition of their 

 complete power to nullify the injurious effects of any 

 poison drunk out of them when converted into cups ; so 

 when an Arab is the fortunate possessor of one, he has 

 no fear of drinking anything a stranger may give him. 



I 2 



