722 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



and sprouts of the thorny acacia, while the latter exclusively live on grasses. Per- 

 haps in consequence of their milder and more succulent food, they are of a timid 

 unsuspecting nature, which renders them an easy prey, so that they are fast melting 

 away before the onward march of the European trader ; while the black species, from 

 their great ferocity and wariness, maintain their place much longer than their more 

 timid relations. The different nature of the black and white rhinoceros shows itself 

 even in their flesh, for while that of the former, living chiefly on arid branches, has a 

 sharp and bitter taste, and but little recommends itself by its meagerness and tough- 

 ness — the animal, like the generality of ill-natured creatures, being never found with 

 an ounce of fat on its bones — that of the latter is juicy and well-flavored, a delicacy 

 both for the white man and the negro. 



The shape of the rhinoceros is unwieldy and massive ; its vast paunch hangs down 

 nearly to the ground ; its short legs are of columnar strength, and have three toes on 

 each foot ; the mis-shapen head has long and erect ears, and ludicrously small eyes ; 

 the skin, which is completely naked, with the exception of some coarse bristles at the 

 extremity of the tail, and the upper end of the ears, is comparatively smooth in the 

 African species, but extremely rough in the Asiatic, hanging in large folds about the 

 animal like a mantle ; so that, summing up all these characteristics, the rhinoceros has 

 no reason to complain of injustice, if we style it the very incarnation of ugliness. From 

 the snout to the tip of the tail, the African rhinoceros attains a length of from 15 to 

 16 feet, a girth of from 10 to 12, a weight of from 4,000 to 5,000 pounds ; but in 

 spite of its ponderous and clumsy proportions, it is able to speed like lightning, par- 

 ticularly when pursued. It then seeks the nearest wood, and dashes with all its 

 might through the thicket. The trees that are dead or dry are broken down as with a 

 cannon shot, and fall behind it and on its sides in all directions ; others that are more 

 pliable, greener, or full of sap are bent back by its weight and the velocity of its 

 motions, and restore themselves like a green branch to their natural position, after the 

 animal has passed. They often sweep the incautious pursuer and his horse from the 

 ground, and dash them in pieces against the surrounding trees. 



The rhinoceros is endowed with an extraordinary acuteness of smell and hearing • 

 he listens with attention to the sounds of the desert, and is able to scent from a great 

 distance the approach of man ; but as the range of his small and deep -set eyas is im- 

 peded by his unwieldy horns, he can only see what is immediately before him, so that 

 if one be to the leeward of him, it is not difficult to approach within a few paces. 

 The Kobaaba, however, from its horn being projected downwards, so as not to obstruct 

 the line of vision, is able to be much more wary than the other species. To make up 

 for the imperfection of sight, the rhinoceros is frequently accompanied by a bird 

 {^Buphaga africana) which seems to be attached to it like the domestic dog to man, 

 and warns the beast of approaching danger by its cry. It is called Kala, by the 

 Bechuanas, and when these people address a superior, they call him " My Rhinoceros " 

 by way of compliment, as if they were the birds ready to do him service. 



The black rhinoceroses are of a gloomy, melancholy temper, and not seldom fall 

 into paroxysms of rage without any evident cause. Seeing the creatures in their wild 

 haunts, cropping the bushes, or quietly moving through the plains, you might take 

 them for the most inoffensive, good-natured animals of all Africa, but when roused to 

 passion there is nothing more terrific on earth. All the beasts of the wilderness are 



