The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-08
IS A SAVAGE BEAST.
,xocEROs THE MOST Diff
,r oF ANNALS TO CAPTURE.

uim Is n Dangerous Task.
roors Nothing and Is Always
n.ody for Fight-strensth and
FerOcity'
Now York Commercial Advertiser.
-. beIped TO capture six African rhi-
.es and I believe that all OF them
,.t alive and serving their purposes
Us .,,,.es and ZOOS. 1 have seen herd
y ,n,,, wild elephants driven into an
.,..,rs and made captive almost without
m''Ys have trapped four and five
and tigers in a week, with never a
...n scratched. AS for wolves and
thew can be caught as readily as
s ne when you tackle a rhinoceros
.s,t Won tackle business. It's worry and
/ .., and danger from the moment you set
.,or, # I am talking about the one
4 ,..,s5 black rhinoceros of Africa. When
r.+nrs created him she gave him more
strength according to bulk than any 9TH
a. animal on earth. She gave him an
.,rrdance OF muscle and but few nerves.
u. has hide almost bullet-proof, WIS.,
II Ike hawk, a sense of hearing as
q s,sn as a fox, and his courage is really
4 ,,hllne You may add to all this that
,,a rbiroceros is always mad. The fierc-
sst If other beasts have their good-na-
,,red hours. but this fellow always has
cbin IN his shoulder Nothing is too big
4 ~ too small for him to charge. He'll turn
4 m steam and so crashing through the
bushes after a jackal at one time, and an
bour later will charge into a herd of ele-
4 nb3pts or scatter a family of lions. 1t is
agreed by all men who have studied him
hat be is totally without fear. If he ever
rms awav from anything it is through
mistake. But for two defects in his phys
i Ia makeup he'd soon exterminate all
other animals in Africa. His range of Wis
ion is like that of a whale-dead ahead
and he is so bulky for his size that he
can't turn except in a considerable circle.
A Costly Capture.
captured Barnum's first rhinoceros, and
that animal cost him more than any four
4 Ions or tigers he ever owned. I was the
first animal hunter sent over to Africa
Il by an American, and l had it all to learn.
A sent home lions, CRATES, elephants, buff
4 fa0es and hyenas without any great trou-
Il bic but it was a whole year before l got
& my first rhinoceros. 1 had to make a
& study Of the animal and take advantage
q Of his characteristics. The natives had
4 killed one occasionally. but such thing
q as capturing one alive had never been
4 heard Of 1t seemed to me that the cas-
81 lest way was TO moose him. There are well
defined paths all through the forests of
Il Africa, and these are used more or less
II BY all animals, especially where they lead
Fl 70 Water. l made a moose in d new two
q men rope big enough to take in a rhi-
& noleros, and then climbed into a tree
aOoVe to manage it. l spent the best part
Oh tnrte avs Up there before a victim came
aolg lie scented me and was suspicious,
uul nevertheless came on and was neatly
hoosed' l believe that rope would have
led schooner at anchor off Montauk
folht out that rhinOceros made one plunge
anu broke 1t like thread. / hadn't real
4el MS strength up to that time My
neAl move was to seek a point on a path
sNeidi miles from camp and erect a bar
maui ms barricade ran to a V-shaped
poht, and was made strong enough to hold
an elephant. If rhinoceros fool. that
pau ne would follow it to the last inch.
auu Wnen he was in close quarters We
Su1iu De on hand to tangle him up. We
W. NV VISITOR almost before we were ready.
, "n'n me rhlnoceros got along to the bar
.i.aug he matted for minute to sniff The
~ theh ne lowered his head and went
charging down the path.
.. oSheVe we had him for sure. but he
. .uuVA 'he logs and rocks at the po;nt of
4 snd "l'h tne power of wild locomotive
t +uu battered his way through. I now
,, a,1eu 70 pit. At soft spot on a path
a.. a1'1s 10 Waterhole we dug a pit 20
III. iols' III feet wide and 7 feet deep.
A., we covered with poles, branches and
4 lnrG,n un'l no one could detect the danger
tor o,'s beneath, but we had our trouble
m bia le"aId. The rhinoceros does most
4 WAL s loaming by day, and is careless
"ne'her he follows a natb or crasba.,
n g'oush the bushes. The night after the
H Th ready we caught two hyenas in
4 nav, ' 1's, next day we caught deer. the
mai lSut another hyena. The one ami
sga,, wanted did not appear. We tried
Was a'olher point, and this time it
mora success, because ] had the details
prenora i mana When the pit had been
miIa ~ l went up the path about half
on an opening and hung red shirt
sobt, g0su' l knew that If rhinoceros
bgsb mat shirt he would charge the
less ~ olhoed tree and waited. and In
eoming ''t au hour l heard an old fellow
bush il,o ~ VIZ lie went through the
he fonn an avalanche, and on the path
4 it m a red handkerchief. He picked
path a. ms norm and charged down the
other ro o" me far side of the pit was an
didn't 5a. Su'rt and in his anger the beast
along at VOA Ior trap. He was busting
EARN twenty miles ON hour when the
Of the I've I'VE way and he landed on his head
getInc 'pIttoih OF the pit. We had a time
don, nun out and into a caoe ona
ne ever got over being mad.
Jaw "i BOSS OF the Forest.
exc5n,irlnnS subsequent captures. with one
but 1ron' Were made in Inc san,a NO.,
hFt, and E, en- 'llerent pits fer every cap
sxcept.on ~ " DIS weeks between Them. The
|G egb, was curious case. With seven
file Wac ''a'iVes following me ia Indian
Fools ~, Walking in a path through The
EARN fro,,, sudden there was a crv of
Eros had az we fearmost native. A rhinoo-
Us and W. ed the path, caught sight of
bushes r,-s 9 charging. We sprang inio the
eet aVo, ana left. and he wasn't len
lnicr fp: "hth l left the nath. Being
crsd te, neadNay he kept on for q hum
As h. J,, ana then left the path bin,es5f
aoWi. uu So he ran between ,,,, ,,lii 80.
lnpus 49,, g her His weight ana
l as tbs,. mem aside for the moment
.is f.ru..,', cahe back they caught hin,
|ts TbI' q the hips and ne was hell
ant Tbs al as fun around there for
Erect sna,. o'u Fellow dug up the earth In
ahd Il NJ as ne snorted and believed
~ in tba HAquariers hadn't been held