310 DR. O. FINSCH ON BIRDS FROM NORTH-EASTERN 
securing many specimens I had hitherto failed to obtain. On the 14th of July we 
went out in pursuit of a Rhinoceros we had heard of the day before, and which Mr. 
Blanford and I had the good fortune to shoot. The next morning I went out with my 
attendants and a posse comitatus of natives, to bring in the skeleton, and on arriving at 
the place I witnessed a scene precisely similar to that described by Sir Samuel Baker 
as taking place over the carcass of a Hippopotamus :—women, old and young, the 
former hideous, scratching, screaming, and fighting over the entrails, pulling furiously 
at these or at one another’s hair, it mattered not which so that possession of the prey 
was secured ; the men jabbering like jackals, fighting with sticks and knives, one and 
all knee-deep in filth and blood; so that between them, in about four hours, the 
skeleton was utterly bared of meat and skin, leaving not an atom for the Vultures. 
On the 18th we had the first earnest of the rainy season, which was ushered in by a 
terrific storm of rain and hail, some of the hailstones being as large as small walnuts. 
The Anseba, an affluent of the Barca, from a dry bed with an occasional waterhole 
became a splendid river, varying from 50 to 100 yards in width, and flowing between 
banks of dense jungle and fine forest-trees. The tracks of Elephants, Rhinoceroses, 
and Lions were plentiful along the banks, so much so as to give the appearance of a 
place frequented by giant rabbits. The valley here varied from fifteen to twenty miles 
in width, the jungle and forest limiting itself to about a couple of miles on each side. 
The remainder of the ground was stony and barren, rising gradually towards the hills, 
and intersected by numerous nullahs running into the Anseba. Here we came in for a 
glimpse, on two occasions, of another species of Antelope, slightly larger than the 
“ Beni-e-Israel.” Unfortunately I had but a momentary view of it, and never succeeded 
in obtaining a specimen. On the 19th we left Bejook for Waliko, seeing on the road 
plenty of spoor of Elephants and Rhinoceroses; from the dung of the latter I collected 
a few Coleoptera. While at Waliko, finding a great scarcity of birds, I followed up 
more closely the tracks of the Rhinoceros, passing through very dense jungle that is 
never penetrated by sun or air, by means of their paths, which are from 2 to 3 feet 
broad, and formed like galleries in a mine, about 4 feet high—and so entering their 
dens, which are very curious, having the appearance of immense arbours; they vary in 
size from 13 to 20 feet square, and have in some cases a smaller retreat adjoining. 
On the 24th, Mr. Blanford and I went out birding, and came upon fresh tracks of 
two Lions; they had followed Elephants’ spoor for over two miles. The herd consisted 
of three old ones and a young one. The next day we left for Maragaz, where Capt. 
Mokeler shot a doe Koodoo, and I procured a few birds, one species of Indicator. 
Mr. Blanford obtained a rare Kingfisher, of which I also secured a specimen the next 
day. I also shot a pair of fine Ground-Hornbills (Bucorax abyssinicus), which I 
prepared as skeletons. The rains having set in, and the term of our excursion drawing 
to a close, we left Maragaz on the 31st’ of July on our return journey. When I 
arrived at Waliko, to which place Capt. Mokeler had preceded us, I found that he had 
been charged by a herd of some twenty Elephants, and had been forced to make good 
