242 UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



four, and the elephant five. The foot of the elephant is the 

 largest in size, the rhino foot comes next. The hippo has a 

 comparatively small foot for so huge a body ; this difference 

 in size is explained by the fact, that the hippo spends the 

 greater part of its existence in the water swimming. The 

 horns of the rhinoceros are part and parcel of the skin, and 

 merely a modification of it, like a nail. It follows that the 

 horns can be stripped off the skull without injuring any bone. 

 The anterior horn is usually longer than the posterior horn, 

 but sometimes, as seen in the illustration of a rhino-head, 

 the reverse is the case. The posterior horn rests between the 

 eyes on the frontal bone, but the anterior horn is supported 

 on the nose, the nasal bones being raised and strengthened 

 to form a hard bony bump. 



The horns are solid ; the anterior curves backward, the 

 posterior is straight and pyramidal. The anterior horn of 

 the female is usually more elegant than the corresponding 

 horn of the male, which is evidently a very terrible weapon 

 for fighting with, being short, stumpy, sharply-pointed and 

 very massive. The longest horn in my possession came from 

 my first rhino, a female ; it measures 25 inches along the 

 outer curve from tip to base. 



The rhino skull has a curious appearance, owing to the 

 large nasal lump, and to the cranium curving upwards like 

 a Pecksniffian tuft and terminating in a long horizontal ridge. 

 The rhino has no front teeth. In the specimen I sent home for 

 my collection, there are fourteen teeth in the upper jaw and 

 twelve in the lower. I have generally found that the rhino, if 

 left alone, tries to escape from the presence of man ; and clumsy 

 as its appearance is, it can gallop off at an astonishing rate, and 

 would out-distance, I should say, even a horse. But if attacked 

 or wounded, it shows fight and may charge ; and therefore, 

 according to some men, rhino-shooting is a dangerous sport ; 

 but till now I have only met with a single instance where the 

 rhino tossed, gored, and trampled on its aggressor. 



If a caravan walking in single file stretches a long threatening 

 line across the path of the rhino, it probably will charge right 

 through the line, under the impression that this is a hostile 

 demonstration meant to encircle it ; but once through the line 

 it hurries away, only too eager to escape. It was at Nairobe, 

 the Kikuyu end of the Athi plains, where 1 shot my first and 



