SOUTHERN AFRICA. 183 



no opportunity of rendering- themselves obnoxious— fre- 

 quently charg-ing- at my elbow, when in the act of drawing- 

 the trigg-er at some other object — and pursuing' our horses 

 with indefatig-able and ludicrous industry, carrying- their noses 

 close to the gTound, moving- with a mincing- g-ait, which ill- 

 beseemed so ung-ainly and ponderous a quadruped, and 

 uttering-, the while, a sound between a grunt and a smothered 

 whistle. In removing- the horn with an axe, the brain was 

 discovered, seated in a cavity below it, at the very extremity 

 of the snout — a phenomenon in the idiosyncrasy of this 

 animal, which may in some measure account for its want of 

 intellig-ence, and pigg-ish obstinacy j as well as for the ex- 

 traordinary acuteness of smell with which it is endowed. 

 Irascible beyond all other quadrupeds, the African rhinoceros 

 appears subject even to unprovoked paroxysms of reckless 

 fury; but the sphere of vision is so exceedingly limited, 

 that its attacks, although sudden and impetuous, are easily 

 eluded, and a shot behind the shoulder, discharged from the 

 distance of twenty or thirty yards, generally proves fatal. 



On our way from the waggons to a hill, not half-a-mile 

 distant, we counted no less than twentj-two of the white 

 species of rhinoceros, and were compelled in self-defence to 

 slaughter four. On another occasion, I was besieged in a 

 bush by three at once, and had no little difficulty in beating 

 off the assailants. Wild buffaloes, too, might often be seen 

 from the waggons. Riding up a narrow defile, flanked by 

 steep banks, I one morning found myself suddenly confronted 

 with the van of a vast troop of these formidable animals, 

 which were ascending from the opposite side — their malevo- 

 lent grey eyes scowling beneath a threatening brow. Unable 

 to turn they must have charged over me, had my horse not 

 contrived to scramble up the bank ; from the top of which 

 I fired both barrels into the leader, a ponderous bull, whose 

 appearance stamped him father of the herd. Falling on his 



