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 

 1891, 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 : 



