330 MR. R. T. CORrSTDOy ON T THE [A-P r - 3, 



of the Ehinoceros, the black and the white ; the old Dutch elephant- 

 hunters always believed in several, and advanced as their reasons 

 the different lengths of the anterior hom, and made their decisions 

 by this standard alone. Both Bhinoceroses are easy to shoot, and 

 it is small wonder that when a long train of carriers has to be fed, 

 or when natives are hunting for a supply of meat to carry back to 

 their kraals, rhinoceroses were shot in preference to buck, wary 

 and difficult to stalk as they are and as a rule more tenacious of 

 life. Furthermore, it is natural that a White Ehinoceros should be 

 shot in preference to a Black, for they generally carry a good deal 

 more fat, are very much larger, and as a rule have larger and more 

 valuable horns. 



As time went on both white and native hunters carried on their 

 work until, a few years ago, naturalists and sportsmen woke up to 

 the fact that there were very few of the White Ehinoceros left in 

 the country. This happened at an unfortunate time, for just then 

 Mr. F. C. Selous, w 7 hom I consider the only scientific hunter between 

 the Crocodile and the Zambesi Eivers, was engaged by the Chartered 

 Company to guide the Pioneer Expedition up to Mashonaland, 

 and was in consequence unable to afford the time necessary for a 

 trip to the country where they were supposed still to exist. Need- 

 less to say, all this time the natives were shooting in the ordinary 

 course and naturally did not understand the view taken in England : 

 had they fully appreciated it, however, I do not suppose it would 

 have made any material difference to them. 



Thus it was that, thanks to their greater size and to the fact 

 that they carried more fat and finer horns than the Black, the 

 Square-mouthed Ehinoceros has gradually disappeared, and was. 

 until we shot those obtained in 1892, considered by zoologists to 

 be very nearly, if not quite, extinct. 



How these names — the Black and White — originated, I do not 

 know, and I have heard of no satisfactory theory. 



No serious assertion has, I believe, ever been put forward 

 that the Square-mouthed Ehinoceros occurs north of the Zambesi; 

 certainly no horns in any way resembling the massive growths of 

 R. sirnus have been brought from there. Count Teleki claims to have 

 shot a White Ehinoceros in N.E. Africa, not far, I think, from 

 Kenia. It is interesting to see that he bases his claim upon the fact 

 that this rhinoceros was of a distinctly lighter colour than the 

 ordinary varieties ; but, as a matter of fact, there is no difference be- 

 tween the colours of the two African species. If anything, I fancy 

 the so-called White Ehinoceros is the darker-coloured animal of the 

 two. 



I have lately heard of two events which are certainly interesting, 

 but which, I think, bear no real significance. About 12 years ago 

 Colonel Coke made a short shooting-expedition into Somaliland ; 

 he started, I believe, from Witu, and while hunting some distance 

 inland he purchased from a caravan several rhinoceros horns. One 

 of these horns, Dr. Giinther tells me, it is more than probable is a 

 White Ehinoceros horn. Should this surmise prove to be correct, 



