TWO-IIORNED RHINOCEROS. 117 
In order to afford some idea of the enormous 
strength of the rhinoceros,, even after being se- 
verely wounded, I shall quote Mr. Bruce s ac- 
count of the hunting of this animal in Abyssinia: 
“ W e were on horseback (says this gentleman) by 
the dawn of day, in search of the rhinoceros, 
many of which we had heard making a very deep 
groan and cry as the morning approached ; several 
of the Agageers (hunters) then joined us : and 
after we had searched about an hour in the very 
thickest part of the wood, one of them rushed out 
with great violence, crossing the plain towards 
a wood of canes that was about two miles distant. 
But though, he ran, or rather trotted with sur- 
prising speed, considering his bulk, he was, in a 
very little time, transfixed with thirty or forty 
javelins ; which so confounded him, that he left 
his purpose of going to the wood, and ran into 
a deep hole, ditch, or ravine, a cul dc sac , without 
outlet, breaking above a dozen of the javelins as 
he entered. Here we thought he was caught as 
in a trap, for he had scarcely room to turn ; when 
a servant, who had a gun, standing directly over 
him, fired at his head, and the animal fell imme- 
diately, to all appearance dead. All those on 
foot now jumped in with their knives to cut him 
up ; but they had scarcely begun, w hen the animal 
recovered so far as to rise upon his knees ; happy 
then was the man that escaped first ; and had 
not one of the Agageers, who was himself engaged 
in the ravine, cut the sinew of the hind leg as he 
was retreating, there would have been a very sor- 
rowful account of the fool-hunters that day. 
f<r After having dispatched him, I was curious to 
see what wound the shot had given, which had 
operated so violently upon so huge an animal ; and 
I doubted not it w r as in the brain. But it had 
struck no where but upon the point of the foremost 
