t, as it is said to be perfectly wholesome, or, as they
express it, "It is pure fat," and fat is by them considered the best
of food. Though only a little larger than a cherry, we found that the
elephants had stood picking them off patiently by the hour. We observed
the footprints of a black rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros bicornis', Linn.) and
her calf. We saw other footprints among the hills of Semalembue, but the
black rhinoceros is remarkably scarce in all the country north of the
Zambesi. The white rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros simus' of Burchell), or
Mohohu of the Bechuanas, is quite extinct here, and will soon become
unknown in the country to the south. It feeds almost entirely on
grasses, and is of a timid, unsuspecting disposition: this renders it an
easy prey, and they are slaughtered without mercy on the introduction
of fire-arms. The black possesses a more savage nature, and, like the
ill-natured in general, is never found with an ounce of fat in its
body. From its greater fierceness and wariness, it holds its place in
a district much longer than its more timid and better-conditioned
neighbor. Mr. Oswell was once stalking two of these beasts, and, as
they came slowly to him, he, knowing that there is but little chance
of hitting the small brain of this animal by a shot in the head, lay
expecting one of them to give his shoulder till he was within a few
yards. The hunter then thought that by making a rush to his side he
might succeed in escaping, but the rhinoceros, too quick for that,
turned upon him, and, though he discharged his gun close to the animal's
head, he was tossed in the air. My friend was insensible for some time,
and, on recovering, found large wounds on the thigh and body: I saw that
on the former part still open, and five inches long. The white, however,
is not always quite safe, for one, even after it was mortally wounded,
attacked Mr. Oswell's horse, and thrust the horn through to the saddle,
tossing at the time both horse and rider. I once saw a white rhinoceros
give a buffalo, which was gazing intently at myself, a poke in the
chest, but it did not wound it, and seemed only a hint to get out of the
way. Four varieties of the rhinoceros are enumerated by naturalists, but
my observation led me to conclude that there are but two, and that the
extra species have been formed from differences in their sizes, ages,
and the direction of the horns, as if we should reckon the short-horned
cattle a different specie