214 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH .WRICA. 



rook, the abodes of whole colonies of black-faced bab- 

 oons, which, astonished to behold such novel intruders 

 upon their domains, leisurely descended the craggy 

 mountain sides for a nearer inspection of our caravan. 

 Seating themselves together upon a broad ledge, they 

 seemed to hold a council as to the propriety of permit- 

 ting us to proceed further through their territories. Hav- 

 ing advanced about nine miles, I drew up my wagons 

 on the bank of a rivulet, where the spoor of large game 

 was extremely abundant. In the bed of the stream 

 I discovered the scaly skin of a manis, which had been 

 newly eaten by some bird of prey. This extraordinary 

 animal, which in its habits partakes of the nature of 

 the hedgehog, is about three feet in length, and is cov- 

 ered all over with an impenetrable coat of mail, con- 

 sisting of large rough scales about the size and shape 

 of the husk of an artichoke; these overlap one another 

 in an extraordinary and very beautiful manner. Its 

 tail is broad, and likewise covered with scales ; on be- 

 ing disturbed it rolls itself into a ball. The manis is 

 met with throughout the interior of South Africa, but 

 it is rare and very seldom seen. 



It was on the 4th of June that I beheld for the first 

 time the rhinoceros. Having taken some coffee, I rode 

 out unattended, with my rifle, and before proceeding 

 far I fell in with a huge white rhinoceros with a large 

 calf, standing in a thorny grove. Getting my wind, 

 she set off at top speed through thick thorny bushes, 

 the calf, as is invariably the case, taking the lead, and 

 the mother guiding its course by placing her horn, gen- 

 erally about three feet in length, against its ribs. My 

 horse shied very much at first, alarmed at the strange 

 appearance of " Chukuroo," but by a sharp application 

 of spur and jambok I prevailed upon him to follow, and 



