THE GREAT THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS 
169 
and, although I quickly wheeled about to my left, he followed me at 
such a furious pace for several hundred yards, with his horrid horny 
snout within a few yards of my horse’s tail, that my little Bushman, 
who was looking on in great alarm, thought his master’s destruction 
inevitable. It was certainly a very near thing; my horse was 
extremely afraid, and exerted his utmost energies on the occasion. 
The rhinoceros, however, wheeled about, and continued his former 
course; and I, being perfectly satisfied with the interview which I had 
already enjoyed with him, had no desire to cultivate his acquaintance 
any further, and accordingly made for camp.” 
When pursued, the animal dashes through the forest with 
tremendous speed, and marks its path by the dead trees which 
it brings to the ground, and the broken boughs which lie scattered 
in every direction. The havoc made by a cannon shot in passing 
through the timbers of a line-of-battle ship may give some idea of the 
kind of destruction accomplished by the rhinoceros in its headlong 
course. It is not easily overtaken; nor is it easily surprised, for it is 
protected, as we have said, by its keenness of scent and hearing. It 
can discern the approach of an enemy from a considerable distance; 
and it is well for it that these senses are so powerful, inasmuch as, 
owing to the smallness and deep-set position of its eyes, its range of 
vision is exceedingly limited. It is said that it is also assisted by the 
warnings of a bird, the Buphaga Africana, which frequently accom¬ 
panies the rhinoceros, and seems to be animated by a strong feeling of 
attachment for its unwieldy friend, and indicates the approach of 
danger by a signal-cry. 
Like most of the tropical animals, the rhinoceros rests or slum¬ 
bers during the day. At nightfall, it proceeds to the nearest lake or 
river to quench its thirst, and, by wallowing in the mud, to cover itself 
with a coat of clay as a protection against insects. Then it sallies 
forth on a foraging expedition, and in the course of the night covers 
a considerable extent of grounds. At sunrise it retires again to rest, 
and under the shade of a rock or a tree sleeps through the hot hours of 
the tropical day, either standing erect, or stretched out at full length. 
The organs of scent of the rhinoceros are very acute, and as the 
creature seems to have a peculiar faculty for detecting the presence 
