140 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



petent man to obtain the white rhinoceros alive, 

 but although he succeeded in taking several calves, 

 not one lived long, and the costly expedition sub- 

 sequently fitted out by Mr. Nicholson, of Cape 

 Colony, for this express purpose, was equally un- 

 successful, although as many as nine young animals 

 were taken. Probably the last attempt that 

 will ever be made in South Africa was that of 

 Messrs. Eyre and Coryndon, who captured a calf 

 in 1892. This youngster was vigorous and sturdy, 

 and indeed inconveniently so — since it was only 

 taken with considerable difficulty — yet though 

 eating well and provided with water, the little 

 rhinoceros died on the eighth day after capture. 

 It is interesting- to remember that there are some 

 animals which do not thrive in captivity from 

 some unknown cause, such as the great kudu 

 for example : nevertheless other rhinoceroses as a 

 rule do very well in captivity. The black R. 

 bicornis brought into Cassala (purchased in 1 868 by 

 the Zoological Society of London) did not die till 

 1 89 1, when it succumbed to cancer and not to old 

 age, whilst an Indian rhinoceros lived in the 

 Gardens from 1843 till 1849, and another example 

 — also Indian — was purchased in 1850, and died 

 in 1874. Specimens of the white rhinoceros are 

 unfortunately very rare in museums, so that the 

 following census may be interesting. The speci- 

 mens are as follows : — 



