The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-19
THE REAL KING OF BEASTS.
THE MOST DIFFICULT
oF ALL ANIMALS TO CAPTURE.

or in Proportion to Bulk Than
ANY other Brute-Experiences of "a
Hunter While Hunting In African
Wilds.
vroo, New York Commercial Advertiser.
T have helped to capture six African rhl-
ro.er5ses. and 1 believe that all of them
~. vet alive and serving their purposes in
.ir,rises and ZOOS. have seen a herd Of
,uertv wild elephants driven into an in
o,oseure and made captive almost without
tro1lle. have trapped four and five lions
And tigers in a week, with never a man
eysn scratched. AS for wolves and hyenas,
they can be caught as readily as fish. It's
when YOU tackle a rhinoceros that you
.,c,'e business. It's worry and work and
dancer from the moment you set about it.
am talking about the one-horned black
rhfn5eeros of Africa. When nature ere
otad him she gave him more strength ac-
cording to bulk than any other animal on
earth She gave him an abundance of
muscle and but few nerves. He has
hide almost bullet proof, a vision like
hawk a sense of hearing as keen as a
fox and his courage is really sublime.
Won may add to all that that the rhi-
noeeros is always mad. The fiercest of
other beasts hav their good-natured
hours but this fellow always has chip
on his shoulder. Nothing is too big or too
small for him to charge. He'll turn on
steam and go crashing through the bushes
after iaekal at one time, and an hour
iater will charge into a herd of elephants
or scatter a family of lions. 1t is agreed
IN, an men who have studied him that he
Is totally without fear. If he ever runs
away from anything 1t is through mistake.
Put for two defects in his physical make
nm ned soon exterminate all other ami
MIS- In Africa. His range of vision is
i've that of a whale-dead ahead-and he
is so bulky for his size that he can't turn,
except in a considerable circle.
Hunting the Vast Brute.
captured Barnum's first rhinoceros,
and that animal cost him more than any
fopr lions or tigers he ever owned. 1
Was f6e first animal hunter sent over TO
Africa by an American, and had 1t all
to learn 1 sent home lions, giraffes, ele-
nbants. buffaloes and hyenas without any
great trouble but 1t was a whole year
before | got my first rhineroceros. l had
10 make study of the animal and take
advantage of his characteristlcs The ma
lives mad killed one occasionally, but such
a thing as capturing one alive had never
been heard of. 1t seemed that the easiest
way was to moose him. There are wen
defined paths all through the forests of
Africa and these are used more or less
by all animals. especially where they lead
to water. I made a moose in a new two
inch rope big enough to take in a rhinoce-
ros aud then climbed into
tree 90 manage it. spent the
best part of three days up there
before a victim came along. He
scented me and was suspicious, but never
theless came on and was neatly moose. I
believe that rope would have held
schooner at anchor off Montauk Point,
but that rhinoceros made one plunge and
broke it like q thread. l hadn't realized
his strength up to that time.
Ny next move was to seek a point on
path several miles from camp and erect
a barrlcade. This barricade ran to
T-shaped point, and was strong enough
10 mold an elephant If rhinoceros took
that path he would follow it to the last
inch, and when he was in close quarters
We would be on hand to tangle him up.
We had a visitor almost before we were
ready When the rfninoceros got along to
the barricade ne halted for minute to
sniff the air. Then he lowered his head
and went charging down the path. 1 be-
leyed we had him for sure, but he struck
Inc logs and rocks at the point of the V
with the power of wild locomotive and
battered his way through
Landed Him in u Pit.
now returned to a pit. AT soft spot
on path leading to a water hole we dug
PIT twenty feet long, ten feet wide and
seven feet deep. This we covered with
poles, branches and dirt, until no one
could detect the danger lurking beneath,
out We had our trouble for our reward.
Inc rhlnoceros does most of his roaming
oy day. and is careless whether he fol-
lows path or crashes through the bushes.
Inc night after the pit was ready we
caught two hyenaS in it, The next day
we caught a deer, the next night another
hyena. The one animal we wanted did
not appear. We tried again at another
poiht ana this time it was success, be-
cause l mad the details more in hand.
When the pit had been prepared went
up the path about half a mile to an open
ing and hung a red shirt on a BUSH
anew mat If rhinoceros sighted that
shlft he would charge the bush. 1 climbed
Tree and waited, and in less than an
nouf heard an old fellow coming full tilt.
ne went through the bush like an ava
idhche and on the path he found a red
handherchief. He picked it up on his horn
una charged down the path. On the far
cue OF the pit was another red shirt and
IN MS anger the beast didn't look for a
rap He was busting along at twenty
tSS an hour When the earth gave way
ana ne landed on his head at the bottom
vi the pit We had time getting him
u' ana INTO a cage, and 1 don't believe
az ever got over being mad
captured In Comic Style.
All my subsequent captures, with one
exception, were made in the same way,
Dut we dug ten different pits for every
TT@ptufe and it was weeks between them.
iue exception was a curious case. With
even or eight natives following me in In
u . ME- was walking in a path through
we woods. OF a sudden there was a cry
vi alarm from the rear-most native. A
lnlnocerous had entered the path, caught
isn' Oh US and was charging. We sprang
Inv lhe bushes right and left, and he
Gpdsh ten feet away when left the path.
i meNs under full Roadway, he kept on for
V ieet and then left the path himself.
ane ne ala so he ran between two trees
sowing close together. His weight and
bhrpetus bent them aside for the moment
t SH1 as they came back they caught him
f t Iorward of the hips and he was held
- There was fun around there for a
t'lv' The old fellow dug up the earth
su 5'eat shape as he snorted and beloved
H.