

THE UNICOKN. 28? 



in overturning it. His fury spends itself in goring and 

 mangling the carcase, as he never attempts to devour it. 

 The female is altogether without a horn.* 



When in the neighbourhood of the tropic, Dr Smith 

 himself heard reports of a similar creature inhabiting the 

 country north of that parallel. The persons who professed 

 to be personally familiar with it, as well as a new kind of 

 rhinoceros allied to R. Keitloa, were only visitors in the 

 country it was said to inhabit, and, therefore, were unable 

 to afford any very circumstantial evidence. It was, how- 

 ever, described as very different from any species of rhi- 

 noceros they had ever seen, with a single long horn situated 

 towards the forehead. Dr Smith then cites the particu- 

 lars given by Mr Freeman, introducing them with the 

 following just observations : 



" Now, though descriptions of objects by such persons 

 are often inaccurate, from the circumstance of their not 

 having been favourably situated for making correct obser- 

 vations, as well as from a deficiency of language calculated 

 to convey the information they actually possess, I have 

 always remarked, that even a hasty examination seemed 

 to supply the savage with more accurate notions of the 

 general character of animals, than it did the civilised 

 man ; and, therefore, I do not despair of species such as 

 these mentioned being yet discovered. It is in regard to 

 the species with the single horn that we experience the 

 greatest hesitation in receiving their evidence as credible ; 

 and therefore, it is agreeable to have it corroborated by 



* South Afr. Christian Recorder, voL i. 



