184 
THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap. 
of the legs appeared to be injured at the shoulder, as the trail 
where the foot had been dragged along the ground was plainly 
visible. 
At nine o’clock we entered dense mimosa bushes, of a 
peculiarly thorny kind, called hilleil , and under one of these 
saw tlie rhinoceros, a large cow. She saw us first, however, and 
charged, getting a pair of four-bore bullets in the chest at rather 
long range as she came on. Hassan handed me my eight-bore, 
and I carefully aimed at her shoulder as she picked herself up 
and came on again ; but there was nothing in the rifle, and I 
had to bolt to the right, leaving her to select a victim from 
among my men, who, more active than I, were dancing about 
the bush yelling out directions to me to fire ! When I had got 
in a couple of cartridges I fired at her right and left ; and the 
second shot, striking obliquely through her shoulders from the 
front, brought her to the ground, and she died, still retaining 
the kneeling position after life had left her. Going up, I found 
that last night’s ball from the four-bore had injured her shoulder. 
She had gone several miles, had taken three four-bore and two 
eight-bore bullets, and had died game, having chosen the worst 
kind of bush she could pick out for the final scene. I photo- 
graphed her as she lay kneeling, leafless thorny mimosas spreading 
their branches all round her, in the strong, defensive position 
she had chosen as her last retreat, the sun casting a shadow in 
every wrinkle of her thick hide. 
Returning to camp, I laid the rhino and lioness heads side 
by side and photographed them, making a curious and unique 
picture to remind me of a good morning’s sport before breakfast. 
While arranging the bower at mid-day for our last and fifth 
vigil, a large spotted hysena came to drink; and not wishing to 
disturb lions by firing a rifle, I ran after him, followed by my 
Somalis. We had no weapons but unloaded Sniders, and my 
knife and pistol. Running hard to cut him off, I was ahead of 
the men as he gained the slope of the river-bank, and fired both 
barrels of my pistol, missing him with one barrel but knocking 
him over with the second. He picked himself up and disappeared 
over the top of the bank, taking the path the wounded lioness 
had followed in the morning ; we, however, gained on him, as 
he was crippled by my bullet, and he hid under a low mimbsa. 
The men came up in front, and one of them shoved the butt of 
a Snider into his face, under the low-spreading branches. He 
seized hold of this and chewed at it vigorously, while I was able 
