THE RHINOCEROS OF THE LADO 489 



the longest horn of any of them; and while they averaged 

 much better horns than the black rhinos we had seen in East 

 Africa, between one and two hundred in number, there 

 were any number of exceptions on both sides. There are 

 recorded measurements of white rhino horns from South 

 Africa double as long as our longest from the Lado. Now 

 this is, scientifically, a fact of some importance, but it is of 

 no consequence whatever when compared with the question 

 as to what, if any, the difference is between the average 

 horns; and this last fact is very difficult to ascertain, largely 

 because of the foolish obsession for "record" heads which 

 seems to completely absorb so many hunters who write. 

 What we need at the moment is more information about 

 the average South African heads. There are to be found 

 among most kinds of horn-bearing animals individuals with 

 horns of wholly exceptional size, just as among all nations 

 there are individuals of wholly exceptional height. But a 

 comparison of these wholly exceptional horns, although it 

 has a certain value, is, scientifically, much like a comparison 

 of the giants of different nations. A good head is of course 

 better than a poor one; and a special effort to secure an 

 exceptional head is sportsmanlike and proper. But to let 

 the desire for "record" heads, to the exclusion of all else, 

 become a craze, is absurd. The making of such a collec- 

 tion is in itself not only proper but meritorious; all I object 

 to is the loss of all sense of proportion in connection there- 

 with. It is just as with philately, or heraldry, or collecting 

 the signatures of famous men. The study of stamps, or of 

 coats of arms, or the collecting of autographs, is an entirely 

 legitimate amusement, and may be more than a mere 

 amusement; it is only when the student or collector allows 

 himself utterly to misestimate the importance of his pur- 

 suit that it becomes ridiculous. 



Cuninghame, Grogan, Heller, Kermit, and I now 

 went off on a week's safari inland, travelling as light as 

 possible. The first day's march brought us to the kraal of 

 a local chief named Sururu. There were a few banana- 



