APPENDIX. 93 



of daggers are always, in Abyfllnia, made of this horn, and 

 thefe being the only works to which they are applied, is one 

 of the reafons why I have faid we fliould not ralhly pro- 

 nounce that the Afiatic rhinoceros has but one horn, mere- 

 ly becaufe the foremoft, or round horn, is the only one of 

 the many that have been fent from India. In Abyffinia 

 we feldom fee the hunters at the pains to cut off or bring 

 to market the fecond horn of the rhinoceros they have flain, 

 becaufe, being flat, in place of round, it has not diameter or 

 fubflance enough to ferve for the ufes juft fpoken of ; fo that 

 •the round horn is the only one that appears either at Gon- 

 dar or Cairo ; and if we were to judge from this circumftance, 

 the African rhinoceros is unicorn for the fame reafon as 

 we do the Afiatic. The horns of this animal are hard and 

 folid, of a reddifli brown on the outfide, a yellow inclining 

 to gold within, and the heart a fpot of black, which occu- 

 pies the fpace of near two inches where the diameter of 

 the horn is five. The furface takes a perfect polifh, but 

 when dried is very liable to fplinter and crack. It likewifc 

 warps with heat, and fcratches eafily. And this was the 

 reafon that, though exceeding beautiful when new, it never 

 would endure any time when made into the form of a 

 fnuff-box, but warped and fplit with the heat, of the pocket, 

 though this I believe was chiefly owing to the lamina, or 

 fiat pieces into which it was cut, being always left too thin. 

 The foremoft of thefe horns crook inward at the point, but 

 by no means with fo fudden a curve as is represented by the 

 Count de Burton. How fenfible the animal is in this 

 part, may be known from the accident I was eye-wit- 

 nefs to in hunting him at Tcherkin, where a mufouet- 

 ball breaking off a point of that horn, gave him fuch a 

 fhock, as to deprive him for an inftant of all appear- 



O 2 ancc 



