WHITE OR SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS 665 



expert trackers. About ten o'clock they lay down under 

 some tree; occasionally standing motionless in the half- 

 shade for an hour at a time. Usually we found them lying 

 on their sides, but sometimes kneeling. When roused they 

 sometimes jumped at once to their feet, and sometimes sat 

 up on their haunches like a dog; once Kermit saw one that 

 had been walking to and fro, trying to make out what he 

 was, sit down in this position. About mid-afternoon they 

 rose from sleep and began to feed, making their way to- 

 ward the water after nightfall. They fed a good deal during 

 the night also. They frequently rubbed their noses and 

 horns against the big ant-hills, for what purpose we cannot 

 say. In walking they held their heads very low, the huge, 

 square muzzles almost sweeping the ground. They trotted, 

 and, if alarmed, galloped at some speed. 



They were slow, dull, stupid beasts, rather mild-tem- 

 pered. Once a badly wounded one made an attempt to 

 charge Kermit, and on another occasion, after he had spent 

 some time taking photographs of a cow and calf, he got so 

 close that the cow finally charged, coming on at a fair pace, 

 with the big, loose lips shaking from side to side. A big 

 calf, over half-grown, also charged him, and he had to turn 

 it by a shot in one cheek. None of the others of our party 

 were charged, although we frequently watched the huge 

 beasts close up, and then withdrew while they trotted to 

 and fro. They were not as nervous and irritable as the 

 black rhinos, and their eyes were even duller. Once having 

 spent some time watching a cow and her big calf feeding, as 

 we stood by a tree thirty yards off, they finally suspected 

 our presence and stopped to look at us. We withdrew for 

 forty yards or so, not wishing to have them charge and 



