WHITE OR SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS 661 
The Nile race of the white rhinoceros is the only one 
which still exists in a wild state. The southern race at the 
present time is represented by some dozen living individuals 
which are strictly preserved on an estate in Zululand. These 
are the survivors of the immense numbers which formerly 
inhabited the country between the Zambesi and Orange 
Rivers. In the Nile Valley they are confined to the dis¬ 
trict west of the river and are of local distribution only. 
The southern limit is the Arau River, which enters the Nile 
opposite Wadelai. Here they occur abundantly in the 
vicinity of Rhino Camp and a few miles to the north of 
this spot. They are not again met with until we proceed 
some hundred miles northward to the stations of Lado and 
Kiro. The most northern record is one reported by Selous 
west of the Shambe. Far westward several hundred miles 
we have a further record by General Mahon of one shot in 
the Dar Fertit country near the headwaters of the Bahr-el- 
Ghazal drainage. 
The distribution of this species is everywhere bounded 
by rivers, both in the south of Africa and in the Nile Valley. 
They are found most abundantly in the close proximity of 
the Nile but do not occur on the east bank. In South 
Africa a similar impassable boundary was formed for the 
species by the Zambesi River. They formerly occurred 
abundantly on the south bank, but were never known to 
occur on the north side. To the south the Orange River 
formed the southern boundary. The river boundaries illus¬ 
trate forcibly the strong aversion these great quadrupeds 
have to crossing streams. This aversion must be due to 
their fear of drowning, for they are quite immune from at¬ 
tack by aquatic animals. 
During historic times the white rhinoceros has not been 
known to inhabit the region lying between the north bank 
of the Zambesi and the Lado Enclave. This is a great 
stretch of country of some eleven hundred miles and is 
apparently well suited to the habits of the species under 
consideration. At what period the white rhinoceros dis¬ 
appeared from this intermediate territory is not known but 
it is doubtless quite recent, for the Nile race has developed 
but slight structural differences. 
Explorers have reported the occurrence of white rhi- 
