258 
ANIMALS IN MOTION. 
and for at least 2 miles our horses have been doing their best, keeping 
a position within 5 or 6 yards of the hind quarters, but, nevertheless, 
unable to overtake them before they reached an impenetrable jungle. It 
is the peculiar formation of the hind legs which enables the rhinoceros 
to attain this speed; the length from the thigh to the hock is so great 
that it affords immense springing capacity, and the animal bounds along 
the surface like a horse in full gallop, without the slightest appearance 
of weight or clumsiness.” 
Of the same animal, Selous, in “ Travel and Adventure 
in South-East Africa,” chap, xxv., says— 
“ A black rhinoceros trotted out into the open, having no doubt got 
my wind as I passed. ... He had broken from a trot into a gallop 
before I fired; but on receiving the shot went a good deal faster, at 
the same time snorting violently. ... A black rhinoceros can gallop 
at an extraordinary pace for so heavy a beast; indeed, it is just as much 
as a good horse can do to overtake one, so that as I ranged alongside, 
my horse, a powerful stallion, was going at his utmost speed.” 
Baker and Selous are probably the two best authorities 
on the actions of African wild beasts in their native haunts, 
and they agree in their observations of the extraordinary 
speed the rhinoceros is capable of attaining, rivalling, 
apparently, the fastest motion of an elephant. The 
description of the fast gait of the animal by these cele¬ 
brated hunters does not correspond with that of the amble ; 
Baker compares it to the “ full gallop ” of a horse, and 
Selous says it broke “ from a trot into a gallop.” 
Neither of these keen observers would be likely to 
mistake the motion of the gallop or the canter for the 
more steady and uniform progress of an animal when 
trotting or ambling. 
It is very desirable that some African explorer should 
succeed in obtaining photographs of the rhinoceros under 
full speed, as, like the hippopotamus, it will perhaps in a 
few more years be exterminated. A single lateral exposure 
will, under favourable conditions, be quite sufficient to 
determine the character of the movement. 
The Hippopotamus. The walk of the hippopotamus, 
according to the observation of the writer, conforms to 
the law governing that of purely terrestrial vertebrates. 
In “Wild Beasts and their Ways,” chap, xii., Baker gives 
an interesting account of the speed of the animal when 
entirely submerged— 
“A hippopotamus can move at a considerable pace along a river’s 
bed. We had proof of this while running down the Bahr Giraffe with 
the steamer, the speed with the stream being about xo knots an hour. . . . 
It was some time before we actually gained upon it, but when the 
engineer put on full steam, there could be no doubt of our superiority 
in speed.” 
While under water it is probable that the hippopotamus 
can trot, and with a long stride make considerable progress 
along the bed of the river without the actual support of 
its legs. On dry land it is hardly probable that its fastest 
gait can be other than the amble; possibly a trot, but 
with a very brief period, if any, of non-support. 
The Giraffe. Unfortunately no giraffe was available 
for the writer’s investigation. Selous, in “Travels and 
Adventures in Africa,” chap, xxvi., says— 
