HABITS OF THE RHINOCEROS A BULL ELANU. 217 



ing, and after an early breakfast on the 6tli I rode 

 southeast with the two Baqi^iaines. They led me along 

 the bases of the mountains, through woody dells and 

 open glades, and ws eventually reached a grand forest 

 gray with age. Here we found abundance of spoor of 

 a variety of game, and started several herds of the more 

 common varieties. At length I observed an old bull 

 eland standing under a tree. He was the first that I 

 had seen, and was a noble specimen, standing about six 

 feet high at the shoulder. Observing us, he made off 

 at a gallop, springing over the trunks of decayed trees 

 which lay across his path; but very soon he reduced 



jsd hides are generally iucrusted. Both varieties of the black rhmoc- 

 ei'os are much smaller aud more active than the white, and are so swift 

 that a horse with a rider on his back can rarely overtake them. Tho 

 two varieties of the white rhinoceros are so similar in habits, that the 

 description of one will serve for both, the principal difference consist- 

 ing in the length and set of the anterior horn; that of the muchocho 

 averaging from two to three feet in length, and pointing backward, 

 while the honi of the kobaoba often exceeds four feet in length, and 

 inclines forward from the nose at an angle of forty-five degrees. The 

 posterior horn of either species seldom exceeds six or seven inches in 

 length. The kobaoba is the rai'er of the two, and it is found very far 

 in the interior, chiefly to the eastward of the Limpopo. Its horns are 

 very valuable for loading rods, supplying a substance at once suitable 

 for a sporting implement and excellent for the purpose. Both these 

 vai-ieties of rhinoceros attain an enormous size, being the animals next 

 in magnitude to the elephant. They feed solely on grass, carry much 

 fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable to beef. They are of 

 a much milder and more inoffensive disposition than the black rhinoc- 

 eros, rarely charging their pursuer. Their speed is very inferior to 

 that of the other varieties, and a person well mounted can overtake 

 and shoot them. The head of these is a foot longer than that of the 

 borele. They generally cany their heads low, whereas the borele. 

 when disturbed, carries his very high, which imparts to him a saucy 

 and independent air. Unlike the elephants, they never associate in 

 herds, but are met with singly or in pairs. In districts where they are 

 abundant, from three to six may be found in company, and I once saw 

 upward of a dozen congregated together on some young grass, but such 

 an occurrence is rai-e. 



Vol. 1.— K 



