8 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



the tip of the snout and the base of the ears. The squared snout and 

 mouth, the immense base of the front horn and the prominent 

 fleshy hump on the shoulders were distinctive characters which were 

 evident at a glance. The coloration was apparently as dark as that 

 of the black species. Later, however, by actual comparison of skins, 

 the color was found to be distinctly lighter. The contents of the 

 stomach of this individual were carefully examined to determine 

 the food habits. Only grass was found ; the identifiable substances 

 being bits of stems of the common veldt grass. 



After measuring the beast carefully as it lay, the skin was removed 

 in a single piece in the usual manner. A median ventral cut was made 

 the full length of the body and four others extended from this at right 

 angles, one down the inside of each leg. The skin came off easily 

 from the body, the muscular attachment being rather slight. Within 

 two hours the skin was off the body with the exception of the head, 

 which required more careful skinning. The skin was thinnest on the 

 inside of the limbs and on the abdomen, and thickest on the back. In 

 weight it must certainly have equalled a ton. The fifteen men failed 

 to lift it clear, being able only to drag it slowly over smooth ground. 

 The stiffness of the hide was remarkable, and was comparable to a 

 sheet of thin steeb It lay in great coils after being removed and could 

 not be folded. The only way in which we could handle the refractory 

 affair was by rolling it up in a giant roll ten feet long and two feet in 

 diameter, and covering it with salt. 



Camp was then arranged for the night on the spot. One tent was 

 erected over the skins of the female and the calf, another for the 

 skinners, and a third for me. They were all placed within a few feet 

 of the skins and carcass in order to protect these specimens from the 

 attacks of hyenas or other predatory animals at night. No men were 

 available for guard duty during the night, as all were tired out by their 

 labors on the skins. Our slumbers were not disturbed, the kill ap- 

 parently being too fresh to attract carnivorous animals from any great 

 distance. 



Next day the work of paring down the great hides was begun. A 

 dozen men were set to work with fleshing knives on the large skin, 

 cutting flakes of hide off the inside surface. In performing this 

 work they stood on the hide and whittled out large chunks of the skin. 

 After the surface had been gone over in this way, about half of its 

 thickness had been removed and it could then be handled more easily. 

 The grain or resisting qualities of the skin had been broken and it 

 could now be folded up quite tightly. It had required the entire first 



