THE RHINOCEROS 



The l)lack rliinoceros, the biggest terrestrial mammal 

 next to the elephant, formerly al)un(lant all over the 

 eastern and south-central parts of the " Dark Continent" 

 has now become comparatively rare and restricted. 

 P'^ifty years ago the English hunter, Anderson, killed 

 over sixty of these animals in the valleys of the Orange 

 and Zambesi rivers in the course of a few months. 



The rhinoceros is most dangerous in the bush thickets 

 which cover extended districts of the lower steppe, 

 in the thick growth of entangling plants which cover 

 large tracts of the high plateaus, and in the clearings 

 of the big mountain forests. Favorite haunts of the 

 horned animal are the small mountain meadows, often 

 six thousand feet above the sea, the brush and grass 

 of which afford the animal splendid cover. These 

 thickets are almost inaccessible to man, and nearly 

 impenetrable. They are formed largely by jasmine, 

 sm.ilax, pterololium, Toddalia, blackberry, and other 

 shrubs and bushes. The frequent rain-showers in these 

 high mountain regions furnish the rhinoceros with food 

 and water, even during the height of the dry season.- 

 They withdraw thither in large numbers when water 

 becomes scarce in the lower country. It is exceeding- 

 ly hard to hunt the rhinoceros in its mountain haunts, 

 for they easily scent or hear the approaching hunter 

 when he works his way through the crackling bushes. 

 They will rise with a great deal of noise and stumble 

 down the mountain slopes, or they will sneak off as 



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