NOTES ON SOMALILAND, 93 
accompanied by.a posse of Abyssinian sepoys, he spends his days shooting 
down the elephants for their scanty ivory. I did come across one herd on 
our present expedition, when ona short excursion by myself to the Marar 
Prairie, where I was looking for Harteveest, They were on their way south- 
wards from the water-holes of Gebili, in the Protectorate, which they had, I 
‘heard, been frequenting for some time past. There was no tusker among 
them, so they were spared any attentions from me, but the Somalis, who 
used the same water-holes (which at that dry season were frequented by the 
flocks of villages for 20 miles round), said that when this herd came to water 
they were absolutely defiant of human beings, and that natives had to retire 
and wait till it pleased the elephants to depart, as nothing would move 
them till they had leisurely finished their “wash and brush up,” Poor 
beasts ! long may they maintain their present independent attitude and 
immunity from persecution, 
THE RHINOCEROS. 
‘(Rhinoceros bicornis.) 
Rhino are still fairly plentiful as you get well into the Haud—the water- 
less belt running right across the Protectorate from west to east, I even 
heard of one or two stray beasts near Burao, at the entrance to the Dolba- 
hanta country, but I think that is the extreme limit of their distribution to- 
wards the N.and E. I have never heard of one in the Reserve, and they do 
not seem to cross the Haud northwards, but become more plentiful as you 
get further south. 
In the case of the elephant his ivory is his ruin,anda fine pair of tusks 
must ever be a coveted prize to sportsman and savage alike, but the Rhino, 
fortunately for him, is not so valuably furnished, and thus enjoys comparative 
immunity from persecution. The non-professional hunter should ordinarily 
be content with two or three good specimens, and the Somali does not pay 
him much attention, True, he likes the skin for making whips and shields, 
but he does not appreciate him as an article of food, and I do not think 
the destruction under the former head amounts to anything very con- 
siderable, so that in Somaliand at all events the Rhino should survive long 
after the elephant has become extinct. 
As anitem in the list of big game he sometimes affords sufficient exe 
citement, as he habitually charges when wounded, and not infrequently 
when unwounded and entirely without provocation ; but on the whole he 
would appear to be much less formidable than the elephant, and more easily 
brought to bag,if bullets be at all properly placed. On this subject Iam 
going to propound a mild heresy. Most authorities recommend the shoulder 
shot, or the lung shot, as being the most efficacious for the Rhino, and this 
is what one would naturally expect ; but for quickly putting one ‘of the 
tribe out of action, try the centre of the belly, the lower down the better. 
I should not presume to suggest the experiment from my own limited 
