RHINOCEROS-HUNTING 



the report of the rifle rolled away among the acacias, the rhino 

 lurched forward, wheeled, and exposed the other shoulder, 

 which brought forth another stunning roar from the second 

 barrel. The wounded beast started away through the trees 

 at a swaying gallop, followed by the roars of two more reports 

 as Fuguet fired from his position, several yards to my left. 

 After galloping furiously for about one hundred and fifty yards, 

 the rhino pitched over on its side and was dead by the time we 

 reached it. Both my bullets had reached the vitals, and the 

 two fired by Fuguet had raked the animal, ranging forward 

 through the body. This rhino proved to be an old bull, 

 the front horn measuring nineteen and one-quarter inches in 

 length and eighteen and one-half inches in circumference at 

 the base. The rear horn was eight and one-half inches in 

 length and seventeen and one-half inches in circumference. 

 In the tenderer portions of the rhino, between the thick folds 

 of skin where it w^as impossible for the animal to reach them 

 or rub them oft", were brilliantly colored ticks larger than a 

 silver half-dollar. 



When they received the news that the rhino was down, the 

 porters came up to the scene and soon covered the carcass in 

 a good-natured swarm at the work of cutting up and skinning. 

 The head of the rhino was finally detached, the choicest parts 

 of the coarse, fibrous meat were saved, and great strips of hide 

 were cut away to make kibokos. The skinning out of the head 

 had to be done in camp, as it is a long and tedious labor, owing 

 to the fact that the skin, with the horns attached, fits very 

 close to the skull, and it is necessary laboriously to cut away 

 the connecting cartilage piece by piece. Then the skin has to 

 be dried in the shade, as the heat of the equatorial sun is liable 

 to cook and ruin it. On account of its thickness, it is neces- 

 sary to have men continually paring down the skin during this 

 process of drying. Our very excellent Swahili cook, after much 

 pounding with the pole of an axe, w^ould serve at the table the 

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