NO. I 



THE WHITE RHINOCEROS HELLER 



II 



only the head was preserved. The second was discovered by a native, 

 who brought the news to the shooting party soon after the first was 

 shot. This specimen was a large male with a small horn, and was 

 shot by the Colonel after it was photographed by Kermit. A runner 

 was sent at once to camp .to inform me. I had spent the morning 

 in camp inspecting the skins already collected. The skinners, our 

 tents, and an outfit were soon assembled and we started back with 

 the guide. On the way we met the Colonel and Kermit returning. 

 They had spent the day in .the burnt country and showed every 

 evidence of their contact with the black ash which lay as a pall 

 everywhere. The ash had painted Caucasian and negro alike, and at 

 a little distance they were distinguishable from their black fol- 

 lowers chiefly by the difference in wearing apparel. We arrived at 

 the kill in time to remove the skin and prepare camp for the night. 

 Before turning in, a few large steel traps were set near by baited 

 with pieces of rhinoceros meat. During the night we heard a leopard 

 growl several times, but were quite unaware that the noise came from 

 a trapped animal. Upon awakening in the morning we discovered a 

 large male leopard moving over the veldt, about half a mile away, 

 dragging one of the traps. Upon examination he proved to be caught 

 by a single toe of his right fore-foot, the trap having a secure grip 

 behind the ball. We gave chase, and when we arrived within 50 

 yards, he faced about growling, and then I shot him. 



The entire day was spent paring down the rhinoceros hide, and 

 late in the afternoon we returned to the main camp with the skin and 

 the skeleton. On the way back we found the greater part of the 

 skeleton of a white rhinoceros lying on the veldt, bleached, and in 

 almost perfect condition. The skull was collected. Many other such 

 weathered skulls were found later, and those in good preservation 

 collected. Most of these specimens showed weathering of two years 

 or less, and evidently represented rhinoceroses which had fallen 

 victims to the rifles of the elephant poachers. The preservation of 

 such skulls is due largely to their great size and density, which pre- 

 vents such bone crushing carnivores as hyenas from breaking them 

 up for food. The skulls of elephants, hippopotamuses and rhinoce- 

 roses alone seem to be large enough to withstand the attacks of 

 hyenas, or rather so large that hyenas find it unprofitable to attempt to 

 crush them. 



A few days later the Colonel and Kermit went out on a photo- 

 graphic quest for rhinoceroses. They discovered a female with a 

 nearly full-grown calf, but the light was so unfavorable that photo- 



