RHINOCEROS SIMUS. 
The female is coloured like the male, and her horns, though less powerful, 
are generally longer, especially the anterior one. 
Mohoohoo, the name of this species among the Bechuanas, is considered by them to be one 
of the original animals of their country, and to have issued from the same cave out of which 
their own forefather proceeded : in this respect they make a difference between it and Keitloa, 
with whose origin they do not profess to be acquainted. Too much attention cannot be paid to 
the traditions of savages : what in them often appears calculated only to excite ridicule, may, 
properly considered, be often made to furnish the most valuable information. Thus, for in- 
stance, by attending to what has been termed a useless tradition, we get to know, not merely 
that the Bechuanas believe the founders of their own nation and the animals of their country 
originally escaped from a large cave, but also facts of interest touching the geographical dis- 
tribution of animals, inasmuch as we may rest satisfied, after being aware of the prevalence of 
the tradition referred to, that all the animals we now find in their country, to whose progenitors 
the aforementioned birth-place is not assigned, have immigrated thither since the tradition 
became current. Every portion, however, of such traditions must not be literally re- 
ceived, else we shall find travellers who may hereafter visit South Africa propagating errors not 
less detrimental to the progress of true science than those which were circulated by Kolben, 
one of the first Cape historians, whose indiscreet credulity led him, to relate most extraordinary 
fictions, inter alias, one relative to the powers the Rhinoceros exercised over his horns, — powers 
which, had he ever examined into the manner in which these bodies were connected with the 
parts around and below them, would have been too clearly imaginary to have warranted 
even the greatest lover of the marvellous in believing them. 
When Mr. Burchell, who first added Rhinoceros simus to the African Fauna, visited 
Latakoo, he found it common in that district, and we have been told by the aborigines that it 
was not unfrequently found even further to the southward. Of late, however, it has almost 
ceased to exist even in the situations where its discoverer met it, which is accounted for by the 
danger to which it is exposed being now much increased from the general introduction of fire- 
arms among the Bechuanas. 
The facility of discriminating this species is great : the extraordinary length of the first 
horn and the hunch on the shoulders are sufficient, even in the distance ; but on a nearer view 
additional characters are at once visible; among those the peculiar configuration of the mouth is 
the most palpable. The form of the latter at once suggests the kind of food upon which the 
animal probably subsists, and an examination of the contents of the stomach, which are princi- 
pally grass, confirms the accuracy of the inference. Localities abounding in grass are there- 
fore the haunts of the Mohoohoo, and to enjoy them throughout the year he is necessitated to 
lead a more wandering life than the two species already figured. 
