RHINOCEROSES 31 



who travel by that route, though it is not added that any 

 one has ever been actually attacked. 



Rhinoceroses have been increasing of late years in 

 Northern Zululand, thanks to protection. In Southern 

 Rhodesia, where they were once so widely spread, they 

 are now confined to a few districts ; but a good many 

 still exist in the Zambezi Company's Territories north of 

 Beira. North and west of the Zambezi the species is 

 sparingly distributed through parts of Northern Rhodesia, 

 Nyasaland, Angola, and Mogambique. They become 

 more numerous towards the north, and until quite lately 

 were found in great numbers over most of British East 

 Africa, wherever the country was high and dry. The 

 fact of their favouring the open, treeless plains, and so 

 catching the eye of the man with a gun on every occasion, 

 soon, however, thinned their numbers, while their un- 

 pleasant habit, when alarmed, of dashing through 

 caravans, to the great detriment of camp equipment, and 

 terror of porters, led to their being considered a nuisance. 

 The range of the species further extends to Somaliland, 

 and the Southern Sudan, as far as the east bank of the 

 White Nile, in the close vicinity of which, however, they 

 are not met with in any great numbers. 



Unlike the other species, the black rhinoceros is essen- 

 tially a browser. Leaves, twigs, and small roots form 

 his food. To the casual observer the fact that he favours 

 so greatly the treeless plains of parts of East Africa might 

 point to a diet of grass ; but a closer examination of the 

 ground reveals the presence of a small plant, which has 

 in reality formed the attraction. When disturbed the 

 black rhinoceros trots away with his head and tail both 

 elevated ; the calves follow their mothers instead of 

 preceding them as in the other variety. The beast feeds 

 during the night, and by day spends its time sleeping in 



