596 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



part of the forest, or under the base of the mountains, 

 sheltered from the power of the sun by some friendly grove 

 of umbrella-topped mimosas. In the evening they commence 

 their nightly ramble, and wander over a great extent of 

 country. They usually visit the fountains between the hours 

 of nine and twelve o'clock at night, and it is on these 

 occasions that they may be most successfully hunted, and 

 with the least danger. The black rhinoceros is subject to 

 paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often ploughing up the 

 ground for several yards with its horn, and assaulting large 

 bushes in the most violent manner. On these bushes they 

 work for hours with their horns, at the same time snorting 

 and blowing loudly, nor do they leave them in general until 

 they have broken them into pieces. The rhinoceros is sup- 

 posed by many, and by myself among the rest, to be the animal 

 alluded to by Job, chap, xxxix., verses 10 and 11, where it 

 is written, " Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in 

 the furrow ? or will he harrow the valleys after thee ? Wilt 

 thou trust him because his strength is great ? or wilt thou 

 leave thy labor to him?" evidently alluding to an animal 

 possessed of great strength and of untameable disposition, 

 for both of which the rhinoceros is remarkable. All the 

 four varieties delight to roll and wallow in mud, with which 

 their rugged hides are generally incrusted. Both varieties 

 of the black rhinoceros are much smaller and more active 

 than the white, and are so swift that a horse with a rider 

 on his back can rarely overtake them. The two varieties 

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

 description of one will serve for both, the principal difference 

 consisting in the length and set of the anterior horn ; that 

 of the muchocho averaging from two to three feet in length, 

 and pointing backwards, while the horn 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 



