WHITE OR SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS 661 



The Nile race of the white rhinoceros is the only one 

 which still exists in a wild state. The southern race at the 

 present time is represented by some dozen living individuals 

 which are strictly preserved on an estate in Zululand. These 

 are the survivors of the immense numbers which formerly 

 inhabited the country between the Zambesi and Orange 

 Rivers. In the Nile Valley they are confined to the dis- 

 trict west of the river and are of local distribution only. 

 The southern limit is the Arau River, which enters the Nile 

 opposite Wadelai. Here they occur abundantly in the 

 vicinity of Rhino Camp and a few miles to the north of 

 this spot. They are not again met with until we proceed 

 some hundred miles northward to the stations of Lado and 

 Kiro. The most northern record is one reported by Selous 

 west of the Shambe. Far westward several hundred miles 

 we have a further record by General Mahon of one shot in 

 the Dar Fertit country near the headwaters of the Bahr-el- 

 Ghazal drainage. 



The distribution of this species is everywhere bounded 

 by rivers, both in the south of Africa and in the Nile Valley, 

 They are found most abundantly in the close proximity of 

 the Nile but do not occur on the east bank. In South 

 Africa a similar impassable boundary was formed for the 

 species by the Zambesi River. They formerly occurred 

 abundantly on the south bank, but were never known to 

 occur on the north side. To the south the Orange River 

 formed the southern boundary. The river boundaries illus- 

 trate forcibly the strong aversion these great quadrupeds 

 have to crossing streams. This aversion must be due to 

 their fear of drowning, for they are quite immune from at- 

 tack by aquatic animals. 



During historic times the white rhinoceros has not been 

 known to inhabit the region lying between the north bank 

 of the Zambesi and the Lado Enclave. This is a great 

 stretch of country of some eleven hundred miles and is 

 apparently well suited to the habits of the species under 

 consideration. At what period the white rhinoceros dis- 

 appeared from this intermediate territory is not known but 

 it is doubtless quite recent, for the Nile race has developed 

 but slight structural differences. 



Explorers have reported the occurrence of white rhi- 



