THE GREAT THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS .69 



and, although 1 quickly wheeled about to my left, he followed me at 

 such a furious pace for several hundred yards, with his horrid horny 

 snout within a few yards of ni}^ horse's tail, that my little Bushman, 

 who was looking on in great alarm, thought his master's destruction 

 inevitable. It was certainly a very near thing; my horse was 

 extremely afraid, and exerted his utmost energies on the occasion. 

 The rhinoceros, however, wheeled about, and continued his former 

 course; and I, being perfectly satisfied with the interview^ which I had 

 already enjoyed with him, had no desire to cultivate his acquaintance 

 any further, and accordingly made for camp." 



When pursued, the animal dashes through the forest with 

 tremendous speed, and marks its path by the dead trees which 

 it brings to the ground, and the broken boughs which lie scattered 

 in every direction. The havoc made by a cannon shot in passing 

 through the timbers of a line-of-battle ship may give some idea of the 

 kind of destruction accomplished by the rhinoceros in its headlong 

 course. It is not easily overtaken ; nor is it easily surprised, for it is 

 protected, as we have said, by its keenness of scent and hearing. It 

 can discern the approach of an enemy from a considerable distance; 

 and it is well for it that these senses are so powerful, inasmuch as, 

 owing to the smallness and deep-set position of its eyes, its range of 

 vision is exceedingly limited. It is said that it is also assisted by the 

 warnings of a bird, the Buphaga Africana, which frequently accom- 

 panies the rhinoceros, and seems to be animated by a strong feeling of 

 attachment for its unwieldy friend, and indicates the approach of 

 danger by a signal-cry. 



Like most of the tropical animals, the rhinoceros rests or slum- 

 bers during the day. At nightfall, it proceeds to the nearest lake or 

 river to quench its thirst, and, by wallowing in the mud, to cover itself 

 with a coat of clay as a protection against insects. Then it sallies 

 forth on a foraging expedition, and in the course of the night covers 

 a considerable extent of grounds. At sunrise it retires again to rest, 

 and under the shade of a rock or a tree sleeps through the hot hours of 

 the tropical day, either standing erect, or stretched out at full length. 



The organs of scent of the rhinoceros are very acute, and as the 

 creature seems to have a peculiar faculty for detecting the presence 



