The National tribune., 1894-06-21
GREAT WHITE RHINOcEROs
An Immense Animal Already Wen Nigh
Extinct.
PdH HtlH Rud0rf1

4
An Immense Animal Already Well Nigh
| Extinct.
| Pal Nall Bud0stl
! It is more than probable that before the
close OF the century the white rhinoceros,
the LARGEST of all the mammals after the ele-
| phant, will be extinct. There are but very
| few preserved specimens in existence to give
the natural history student of the future an
idea of its enormous size and peculiar struc-
| ture.
1t is now generally recognized that there
| are IN Africa only two varieties of the rhino-
| ceros, the black and the white.
The old Dutch elephant hunters always
believed in several, advancing as their reason
the different lengths of anterior horn and
| judging entirely by this standard. Both sorts
are easy 10 shoot, and it is small wonder when
| long train of carriers has to be fed or when
natives are hunting for supply of meat to
/ carry back to their kraals, that a rhinoceros
| was always shot IN preference 10 buck,
| wary and difficult to stalk as are the latter,
and as rule more tenacious of life. Fur
thermore, it is natural that the white rhino-
ceros should be shot in preference to the
black, for it generally carries good deal
more fat, is very much larger than the black
| species, and as a rule has more valuable
| horns
The main points of difference between the
| two specimens are the shape of the mouth
and the manner of feeding. The Bicornis
has prehensile upper lip and much smaller
head altogether than the Sinus; he feeds
entirely upon leaves and twigs, and prefers
a rough, bushy, inhospitable country he is
wary and shy, quick to anger and exceed
| ingly obstinate, inquisitive, and suspicious.
The Sinus has disproportionately large
| head, with a great jaw which is cut quite
| square off in front, and the great rubber-like
| lips are suited for the grass upon which he
| feeds entirely, though In the Autumn and
| Winter, when the grass over vast stretch,
| OF country has been burnt away, it is puzzle
| how ne manages to get enough TO sustain his
| great bulk. He carries his head very low,
and has long ears slightly tipped with curly
| black hair; he is not so inquisitiye or suspi-
cious as his black brother, and is slightly
more sluggish in his movements, though
upon occasion be can cover the ground with
| unexpected speed.
Another curious fact is that the calf Of the
Sinus will always run in front of the cow,
while the calf of the Bicornis invariably fol-
lows its mother; this habit never varies
They drink every day, or rather every night,
and as a rule do not 90 down to the water
warm they generally enjoy siesta, some-
times In the bush, and sometimes out in the
glaring quivering heat; and though they
will occasionally lie in thick, bushy country
they do not make point of choosing the
deepest shade. When fairly asleep they do
not waken easily, and they may then be
easily shot or photographed.
In the first few days of June, 1898, /
started alone from Salisbury and entered
northeast Mashonaland. For five days, from
sunrise till dark, patroled and quartered
every yard of country for good number of
miles, and on the sixth day I saw-though
so far off that they appeared just as dark
specks-two of the huge brutes 1 was search
ing for.
The first thing to do, of course, was TO get
below the wind, as when they were first
sighted the wind blew directly from me to
them. In an hours time I was crawling TO-
ward them through the fringe of bush that
lay about $50 yards below the open position
they had chosen for their midday siesta. I
thought they might give me some trouble,
so / took my colored boy with me-he could
shoot rather well and carried single - bore
rifle.
AS [ crawled on my stomach toward them
with the greatest possible care I saw one of
them had become suspicious, and had got
ON to his feet, evidently much disturbed.
When / saw this flattened myself as much
as possible into the sharp grass stubble and
black ash-this latter the result of deyas-
tatng grass fire which had occurred few
weeks before. It seemed hours before this
very painful crawl brought me to the small
tuft of dry grass | was making for.
After waiting for some time was relieved
to see the other brute stand up. l whispered
TO the boy and then knelt right up The
larger bull was on the left, almost facing
me; the other stood broadside on. / did
not wish to break any great bones, 50 did
not fire at the point of the shoulder-which
would have been the usual shot under the
circumstances-but put the bullet from the
10-bore Paradox between the first two
ribs and into the lung As the huge brute
spun round put the second shot behind the
ribs; it travelled forward, and also, found
afterward, reached the lungs.
The boys rife went off almost simulta-
neously with my first shot, and as the rhi-
noeeroses went off in opposite directions we
jumped up and followed them at our best
pace. For over a mile the old bull went
like a stesm-engine; he gradually, however,
set tied down, and / came up and gave him
two more bullets from behind; this helped
him on again, but not for more than half
mile.
/ soon ran up to him, and found him be-
ginning to stagger; for all this time he had
been throwing blood by the gallon from his
nostrils. One more shot finished him, and
as he sank down with kind of sob, the buff
falo birds left him, and with shrill notes of
alarm they flew up, and eircling for few
minutes over rs, they disappeared in the
direction the other rhnoceros had taken.
/ was completely exhausted by the severe
run, and, taking out my pipe, sat down for
a short rest upon the huge gray head. The
second bull succumbed about half mile
from where 1 had first fired.
1t is curious fact that under the skin of
these two animals found six native bullets,