So we set to work, and as a
result of more than an hour's toil, dragged off the hide, which was so
tough and thick that, as we found, the copper spears had scarcely
penetrated to the flesh. The bullet that I had put into it on the
previous night struck, we discovered, upon the bone of the upper arm,
which it shattered sufficiently to render that limb useless, if it did
not break it altogether. This, indeed, was fortunate for us, for had
the creature retained both its arms uninjured, it would certainly have
killed more of us in its attack. We were saved only by the fact that
when it was hugging Jerry it had no limb left with which it could
strike, and luckily did not succeed in its attempts to get hold with
its tremendous jaws that had nipped off the Kalubi's hand as easily as
a pair of scissors severs the stalk of a flower.
When the skin was removed, except that of the hands, which we did not
attempt to touch, we pegged it out, raw side uppermost, to dry in the
centre of the open place where the sun struck.
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