WART HOGS 
169 
here, and in the afternoon employed myself skinning, rifle- 
mending, trap-setting, boil -dressing, and animal-doctoring. 
Mrs. Stanford remained in bed all day with high fever, but 
after a dose of quinine and champagne it had entirely 
vanished next morning. For several days we remained at 
Lehello, during wFich time I had splendid sport with 
Speke’s gazelle, getting some very fine trophies of each 
sex. But do what I would, I could not kill a wart hog. 
Twice I put fine boars up almost under my feet when I was 
armed with a walking-stick only. 
One day, whilst in camp engaged in skinning, a riderless 
horse was seen to be galloping towards the zareba. 
Fearing Stanford had met with an accident, I was in the 
act of saddling my pony and setting out to look for him, 
when I perceived the syce approaching in hot haste. He 
soon afterwards came into camp with the news that 
Stanford had killed a boar, and on attempting to put the 
head upon the pony’s back, the animal, being a true 
Mohammedan, naturally expostulated, and having kicked 
out right and left, and got rid of its loathsome burden, it 
made off straight for camp at a gallop. 
After following wart hog for upwards of a week without 
success, I shot two boars out of a sounder right and left. 
They were neither of them dead, and cutting their throats 
was by no means child’s play, as they worked their heads 
and huge tusks about in most formidable fashion. The 
Somalis, being Mohammedans, would not touch them, so I 
was obliged to cut off their heads unaided, and sling them 
over the saddle, a matter of great difficulty. I have skinned 
every sort of head, but a wart hog’s skin beats them all for 
sticking tight. It took me four and a half hours to take off 
those two skins and clean the skulls. I was utterly tired 
out with working at them in the sun, and my hands were 
covered with blisters when dinner-time arrived at six 
o’clock. However, these two extraordinary-looking heads 
well repaid me the trouble I took to obtain and preserve 
them. 
