168 
THE RHINOCEROS. 
whom he gores with his powerful horn, either 
in the flank or the belly, and by nature pro- 
tected by the thickness of his hide from the 
claws even of the lion, the rhinoceros is not | 
slow to turn upon his hunters ; but he rarely j 
attacks other animals when unmolested. When 
excited, he employs his natural powers and as- 
tonishing strength wildly, but awkwardly- 
Mr. Burchell indeed tells us, that the African 
hunters who have the courage to await his 
furious charge Avith vigilance and coolness? 
may contrive to slip aside and even to reload 
their guns before the exasperated animal can 
regain his view of them — an object which 
accomplishes slowly and with difficulty. 
The temper of the rhinoceros, like that of 
the hog, which he resembles in many points of 
his structure and appetite, is vicious and uH' 
certain. His courage seems to be the exertioi^ 
of the lowest degree of brute instinct. 
the hog, too, he possesses an exquisitely keen 
