The Washington herald., 1913-10-05
Report on One Of the Most
Important Results Of the
Roosevelt Expedition to
Africa Soon to Be Pub
lished.

fabulous Edmund Heller. the naturalist
OF the Roosevelt expedition to Africa,
has written a book about the creature.
which is soon to be published by the
Smithsonian Institution.
As will be remembered. the Smithson-
ian financed the expedition in question,
and the returns therefrom were repre-
| sented by the skins and skeletons of
| about 1000 animals of which the most
| interesting by far was the white rhi-
noceros. Col Roosevelt and his party shot
several of these rhlnos, but The report
In regard to them has been withheld up
to the present time.
The white rhinoceros hitherto has been
the least known Of existing mammals.
1t has commonly been described as the
largest OF all mammals, excepting the
elephant. But. as now proved. it is no
bigger than the huge rhinoceros of India,
though considerably greater in size than
\ the black rhinoceros native to Africa
Like the sO-called white elephant, it is
not really white. but smoke gray in
color.
Has Hump on the Neck.
Standing very tall, and with an Excess
sively long head. its ears are longer and
its feet larger than those OF the black
! rhinO. The sides of its body are smooth,
| without the rib-like folds characteristic
( Of its black congener. In the Indian
species these folds are enormously de-
veloped. Another striking feature of the
white rhinOceros Is a prominent, rounded
neshy hump on the nape OF the neck-a
| purely muscular structure.
The animals has two hornS-the front
one rising from a bOny prominence on
the tip of the nose. The rear horn, much
| smaller, is placed behind. Occasionally
| the front horn is as much as five feet
long. These great horns are carried only
| by females. The rear horn is rarely
more than few inches in length, and
sometimes is wanting entirely. One va
| riety Of black rhinOcerOs, by the way.
has its two horns equal
SO far as known. the white rhinOceros
exists only in two localities OF restricted
are-the l-ado Enclave district and the
Bahrael-GhaZel province OF Equatorial
Africa. 1t is mild and inoffensive in
disposition, whereas the black rhino is
| markedly pugnaCioUs Usually il is
| found in small family party consisting
of a male, female, a well-grown calf.
<and a nursing calf 1t is easily run down
| by a man on horseback. The grass OF
the veldt is its sole food.
1t was in the Lado Enclave district.
! along the banks Of the Nile, that the
| Roosevelt expedition hunted the white
1 y.
the interest OF the trip through that re-
| gion in Africa conferred on 1.-THE quest OF
this rare and remarkable beast. Prepare
| tons for the hunt were made at the
| port Of Butiaba, on the northern shore
| OF Lake Albert NyanZa. where a small
! fleet, consisting OF a steam launch a
| large sIOop-rigged boat. a smaller sail
noat, and two rowboats. was made ready
to carry the expedition across the lake
and down the Nile to the haunts of the
| strange animal.
Big Lake In Chasm.
! The immense lake known a. Albert Ny
| ANA lone of the sources of the NIle) lies
| in a deep chasm among mountains its
surface 100 feet above sea level. Its whole
| eastern shore is a rugged, precipitous
wall. which rises to a great height di-
rectIy from the waters edge. Not very
| far away are the snow-capped peaks of
Ruwenzori-the tabled Mountains of the
Moon Of early geographers.
When the expedition had arrived in the
| country OF the white rhinoceros, Col
| Roosevelt and his companions found
| themselves on a river plain covered with
very tall grass. The privilege of shooting
the animals was reserved by the colonel
for himself and his son Kermit. His en-
counter with the first rhino is described
by himself as follows:
Mounting a low anthill, / saw. rather
dimly through the long grass. a big gray
bulk near the foot OF tree. II was a
rhino. lying asleep on its side, looking
like an enormous pig. 1t heard some
thing and raised itself on its forelegs in
a sitting position. the big ears thrown
forward. I fired for the chest, and the
heavy bullet knocked 1t clean of its feet
Squealing loudly. il rose again. but 1t was
clearly done for. and never got ten yards
from where il had been lying. AT the
shot four other rhinos rose. One bolted
TO the right: two others ran to the left.
Firing through the grass, Kermit wound
ed one, and followed 1t long distance.
Meanwhile the rest OF the expedition
had remained with the outfit near the
boats. When they heard the shots, the
porters and skinners were got together,
with the tents, and start was made to
rejoin the colonel.
when We arrived at the spot where
the rhinos lay" says Mr.. Heller. we
found the colonel intensely delighted
About noon he had come upon a herd>of
four resting in the tall grass. An adult
female was shot: two others had bolted.
One. wounded by Kermit, was found a
week later with great numbers of Yul-
tures feeding on its decayed body; but
the skull and horns were perfectly pre-
served" The calf belonging to the fe-
male that was killed refused to leave Its
mother, and also was shot.
Removing Hide Big Task.
II was a two days job for eight. skin
ners to remove the hides and, by cutting
away the simultaneous layers, make
them thin enough and light enough to
carry. The skin of the adult female,
taken of in one piece, weighed ton
Fifteen men could not lift it clear of the
Ground. The stiffness of the hide was
comparable to that of a sheet of thin
steel, It could not be folded, and so a
great roll was made of 1t, ten feet long
and two feet in diameter, covered with
salt to preserve II.
That night the party camped by the
skins and carcasses to keep on hyenas
and other carnivores-the first day hav-
ing been devoted to a preliminary pairing
with feshing knives. In the meantime a
few men were kept busy removing the
flesh from the skeletons. Many vuftures
and marabout storks arrived, draping
the trees round about and awaiting the
departure fof the human intruders.
The next. might no guard was set, and
all hands, being very tired, went to
sleep. About a. m. they Nwere awak-
ened by the growing Of lions Three
lions were .quarreling over the carcasses
not fifteen feet away. The night was So
dark that they could not be seen; but
rejecting acetylene headlight was
ha rIacad in r1OStiOn and rifles were