268 



THE EHINOCEROS. 



respect by the exhibition of milder and more amiable tempers, 

 are not the equals of the ruder tribes, in the sort of courage which 

 distinguishes men in the face of the ferocious beasts which com- 

 mand the forest paths and the deep jungles of Africa ; they could 

 not begin to cope with the interior tribes in the more dangerous 

 sports which involve the slaying of the lion or the rhinoceros. 

 Indeed in all Africa there is no animal which presents a bolder 

 front than this latter. There are several species of the rhinoc- 

 eros mentioned by different writers ; they seem, however, easily 

 included in the two prominent classes distinguished by their 

 colors ; the black is the more dangerous both on account of its 

 superior strength and a peculiarly morose disposition. An ex- 

 perienced hunter asserts that he would rather face fifty lions 

 than one of these animals in an exposed situation. The sight 

 of the rhinoceros is imperfect, and this alone furnishes about the 

 only hope of escape which is open to a man who is singled out 

 for his rage. Of enormous bulk and amazing strength, and 

 armed with a horn " sharp as a razor," he is an enemy to be 

 treated with most serious consideration. 



Mr. Andersson, whose adventure with a lion has been men- 

 tioned, and a rather reckless hunter, came quite suddenly upon 

 one of these monsters which had been wounded, and thinking 

 to make her change her position so as to offer a better opening 

 for his aim, ventured to cast a stone at her. Instantly she rushed 

 upon him with dreadful fury, snorting horribly, and tearing the 

 ground with her feet, while her expanded nostrils seemed smok- 

 ing with rage; he had no time to note the effect of his hasty shot 

 before he was dashed to the ground, and his gun, cap, powder 

 flask and ball pouch were spinning away through the air with 

 the violence of the blow. The tremendous momentum carried 

 the beast stumbling some distance beyond him, but before he 

 could fully regain his feet she had turned upon him and dashed 

 him to the ground a second time, tearing his thigh open with her 

 sharp horn, and trampled him desperately in the dust. She 

 then seemed to lose him, and as he crawled away to the shelter 

 of a neighboring tree he saw her some distance off tearing the 

 bushes, as if in unappeasable rage. 



Not only man, but the most ferocious beasts shrink from an 

 engagement with the rhinoceros ; even the lordly elephant mani- 



