THE RHINOCEROS. 655 



The hunter then thought that by making a rush to his side he 

 might succeed in escaping, but the rhinoceros, too quick for that, 

 turned upon him, and, though he discharged his gun close to the 

 animal's head, he was tossed in the air. My friend was insensi- 

 ble for some time, and, on recovering, found large wounds on the 

 thigh and body : I saw that on the former part still open, and 

 five inches long. The white, however, is not always quite safe, 

 for one, even after it was mortally wounded, attacked Mr. Os- 

 well's horse, and thrust the horn through to the saddle, tossing 

 at the time both horse and rider. I once saw a white rhinoceros 

 give a buffalo, which was gazing intently at myself, a poke in the 

 chest, but it did not wound it, and seemed only a hint to get 

 out of the way. Four varieties of the rhinoceros are enumerated 

 by naturalists, but my observation led me to conclude that 

 there are but two, and that the extra species have been formed 

 from differences in their sizes, ages, and the direction of the horns, 

 as if we should reckon the short-horned cattle a different species 

 from the Alderneys or the Highland breed. I was led to this 

 from having once seen a black rhinoceros with a horn bent down- 

 ward like that of the kuabaoba, and also because the animals 

 of the two great varieties differ very much in appearance at dif- 

 ferent stages of their growth. I find, however, that Dr. Smith, 

 the best judge in these matters, is quite decided as to the propri- 

 ety of the subdivision into three or four species. For common 

 readers, it is sufficient to remember that there are two well-de- 

 fined species, that differ entirely in appearance and food. The 

 absence of both these rhinoceroses among the reticulated rivers 

 in the central valley may easily be accounted for, they would be 

 such an easy prey to the natives in their canoes at the periods of 

 inundation ; but one can not so readily account for the total absence 

 of the giraffe and ostrich on the high open lands of the Batoka, 

 north of the Zambesi, unless we give credence to the native report 

 which bounds the country still farther north by another network 

 of waters near Lake Shuia, and suppose that it also prevented their 

 progress southward. The Batoka have no name for the giraffe 

 or the ostrich in their language ; yet, as the former exists in con- 

 siderable numbers in the angle formed by the Leeambye and 

 Chobe, they may have come from the north along the western 

 ridge. The Chobe would seem to have been too narrow to act as 



