CHAPTER XI 



AN OASIS IN THE DESERT 



Since mine own doors refuse to entertain me 



Comedy of Errors 



Things without all remedy 



Should be without regard, what's done is done 



Macbeth 



What's gone and what's past help 

 Should be past grief 



IV biter's Tale 



We were now having a great time trying to cure the 

 skin of the rhino. I was so afraid something would 

 go wrong with it that I was for ever messing away. 

 Clarence would have it that the wrong thing had been 

 done from the first. He was rather pessimistic these 

 days, mainly, I think, because he had a gathered hand 

 and it pained very considerably. 



The skins generally were menaced by the deadly 

 beetle grub, and we had to resort to all sorts of drastic 

 measures. Saltpetre I found of great use here, and 

 we used it freely. The heads of rhino are very difficult 

 to dry, as can well be imagined, and our trophy looked 

 a hopeless mess. It was difficult to believe it would 

 ever rise in glory, Phcenix-like, from the ashes, to be a 

 thing of joy to anyone. Such great heads swarm with 

 maggots in no time unless carefully watched. The 



