RHINOCEROS KEITLOA. 



With respect to the other Rhinoceros which was said to exhibit a resemblance to the Keitloa, 

 it may probably be found to belong to a species which has its principal habitat in northern 

 Africa, a conclusion to which we have been led from an examination of a pair of horns con- 

 tained in the museum of the College of Surgeons of London, and which were obtained in 

 Abyssinia, by Mr. Salt. These horns differ considerably from the horns of Rh. Bicornis, while 

 as regards form, they approximate those of Rh. Keitloa. Another pair of horns, probably of the 

 same species, is preserved according to Spaarman,* in the cabinet of the Royal Academy of 

 Sciences, the foremost of which is twenty-two inches in length, and the hindermost sixteen. 

 The distance between these horns is scarcely two inches. They differ hkewise, he adds, " from 

 the horns I saw in Africa, and from those I brought with me, in being of a lighter colour, and 

 straight, and at the same time flat on the sides ; so that the hindmost horn in particular, has 

 pretty sharp edges on the upper part, both before and behind. These horns most probably 

 came from the northern parts of Africa, as they were purchased at Naples," &c. Different again 

 from the above, and from all Rhinoceros horns I have yet seen are two, contained in the British 

 Museum, which were obtained by Major Denham during his journey in Northern Africa; and 

 if they do not prove to have belonged to young individuals of Rh. Simus, they will require 

 to be referred to a species not yet characterised ; they are of a lighter colour than any horns 

 which I have had an opportunity of examining, and along with a peculiarly corneous aspect, 

 they have a considerable degree of semi-transparency. The horns of Rh. Simus possess more 

 of the above characters than any others yet known, which circumstance, together with 

 the fact of which I have been informed by R. Owen, Esq. F.R.S. that clubs of Rhinoceros 

 horn, about three feet in length have been obtained from Western Africa, (Kingdom of 

 Dahomy) would lead to a supposition, that either the species discovered by Burchell, or one 

 with certain of its characters, inhabits Northern Africa. 



Now, though I am not prepared to maintain that the horns of each individual of the same 

 species of Rhinoceros are found to be uniform, as regards size and form, or even that the rela- 

 tive lengths of the first and second horns are constant in different animals, yet from what I have 

 observed in the South African species, I do not think we are justified in believing the horns of 

 the same species to be subject to any great variations in respect to relative length. When the 

 Rhinoceros of Abyssinia shall have been minutely examined, it will probably be found to be 

 distinct from Rhinoceros Bicornis, Lin., and be identical with the animal stated by the natives 

 who communicated with us near the tropic of Capricorn, to be like the Keitloa. The other 

 species of which they spoke will possibly be identical with the Ndzoo-dzoo and a nondescript: 

 while the one, from which were obtained the horns referred to as in the British Museum, may 

 prove either the Rhinoceros Simus, or a third undescribed species. 



* Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, by A. Spaarman, M.D. 4to. vol. ii. p. 1 



00. 



