THE FN KNOWN. 



with such as were already well known, and his in- 

 telligent spirit of inquiry, leave no room for sup- 

 posing that any conspicuous forms inhabit the 

 regions through which he penetrated, different 

 from those. 



I am therefore inclined to believe, that whatever 

 discoveries of importance are yet to be made in 

 African zoology, will be in the very central dis- 

 trict ; the region, that is, which lies south of Lake 

 Tchad and Abyssinia, and extends to the equator. 

 There is reason to suppose that lofty mountain- 

 chains exist here, and geographical discovery has 

 not yet even approached these parts. Many forms 

 of high interest, and some of them of vast dimen- 

 sions, may yet be hidden there. 



It is highly probable that an animal of ancient 

 renown, and one in which England has (or ought 

 to have) a peculiar interest, resides in the region 

 just indicated. I refer to one of the supporters of 

 Britain's shield, the famed Unicorn. We may not, 

 to be sure, find him exactly what the heraldic 

 artists delight to represent him — a sort of mongrel 

 between a deer and a horse, with cloven hoofs, a 

 tuft- tipped tail, and a horn spirally twisted to a 

 point ; but there may be the original of the tradi- 

 tionary portrait of which this is the gradually 

 corrupted copy. 



Dr. Andrew Smith, an able and sober zoologist, 

 who has investigated with much enterprise and 

 success the zoology of South Africa, has collected 

 a good deal of information about a one-horned 

 animal which is yet unknown to Europeans, and 

 which appears to occupy an intermediate rank 

 between the massive rhinoceros and the lighter 

 form of the horse. Cavassi, cited by Labat, heard 

 of such a beast in Congo under the name of 

 Abada; and Riippel mentions it as commonly 

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