ned forward with his sword raised for the blow. Another
moment and the jungle would be reached! One effort more, and the sword
flashed in the sunshine, as the rear-most rhinoceros disappeared in
the thick screen of thorns, with a gash about a foot long upon his
hind-quarters. 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 weakne