Exploration in the southern borderland of Abyssinia

Expedition Jan 1903 with L.J. Baird. Its banks are fringed with tropical vegetation, but a few yards away from the river one is confronted by thick thorn bush, through which it was often difficult to find a way for the caravan. Elephant and rhino tracks were ubiquitous. These monsters are certainly the best road-makers in Africa; but for their engineering efforts in this line our progress would have been much slower. Baird shot a good rhino. Among the hills some of the rhino paths were extraordinarily well graded. Unfortunately, the rhino has a hide some 3/4 of an inch thick, and so does not see the necessity of clearing the thorn bush from over his road. An elephant is more considerate, he makes a clean sweep of everything in his path.