Taher Sherrif Shook His Bloody Sword In Triumph Above His
Head, But The Rhinoceros Was Gone.
We were fairly beaten, regularly
outpaced; but I believe another two hundred yards would have given us
the victory.
"Bravo, Taher!" I shouted. He had ridden splendidly, and
his blow had been marvellously delivered at an extremely long reach, as
he was nearly out of his saddle when he sprang forward to enable the
blade to obtain a cut at the last moment. He could not reach the
hamstring, as his horse could not gain the proper position.
We all immediately dismounted. The horses were thoroughly done, and I at
once loosened the girths and contemplated my steed Tetel, who, with head
lowered and legs wide apart, was a tolerable example of the effects of
pace. The other aggageers shortly arrived, and as the rival Abou Do
joined us, Taher Sherrif quietly wiped the blood off his sword without
making a remark. This was a bitter moment for the discomfited Abou Do.
There is only one species of rhinoceros in Abyssinia; this is the
two-horned black rhinoceros, known in South Africa as the keitloa. This
animal is generally five feet six inches to five feet eight inches high
at the shoulder, and, although so bulky and heavily built, it is
extremely active, as our long and fruitless hunt had shown us. The skin
is about half the thickness of that of the hippopotamus, but of extreme
toughness and closeness of texture. When dried and polished it resembles
horn. Unlike the Indian species of rhinoceros, the black variety of
Africa is free from folds, and the hide fits smoothly on the body like
that of the buffalo. This two-horned black species is exceedingly
vicious. It is one of the very few animals that will generally assume
the offensive; it considers all creatures to be enemies, and, although
it is not acute in either sight or hearing, it possesses so wonderful a
power of scent that it will detect a stranger at a distance of five or
six hundred yards should the wind be favorable.
Florian was now quite incapable of hunting, as he was in a weak state of
health, and had for some months been suffering from chronic dysentery. I
had several times cured him, but he had a weakness for the strongest
black coffee, which, instead of drinking, like the natives, in minute
cups, he swallowed wholesale in large basins several times a day; this
was actual poison with his complaint, and he was completely ruined in
health. At this time his old companion, Johann Schmidt, the carpenter,
arrived, having undertaken a contract to provide for the Italian
Zoological Gardens a number of animals. I therefore proposed that the
two old friends should continue together, while I would hunt by myself,
with the aggageers, toward the east and south. This arrangement was
agreed to, and we parted.
Our camels returned from Geera with corn, accompanied by an Abyssinian
hunter, who was declared by Abou Do to be a good man and dexterous with
the sword.
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