which case one hunter occupied his attention, while another
galloped up behind, and severed the hamstring. The rhinoceros,
unlike the elephant, can go very well upon three legs, which
enhances the danger, as one cut will not utterly disable him.

There is only one species of this animal in Abyssinia; this is
the two-horned black rhinoceros, known in South Africa as the
keitloa. This animal is generally five feet six inches to five
feet eight inches high at the shoulder, and, although so bulky
and heavily built, it is extremely active, as our long and
fruitless hunt had exemplified. The skin is about half the
thickness of that of the hippopotamus, but of extreme toughness
and closeness of texture; when dried and polished it resembles
horn. Unlike the Indian species of rhinoceros, the black variety
of Africa is free from folds, and the hide fits smoothly on the
body like that of the buffalo. This two-horned black species is
exceedingly vicious; it is one of the very few animals that will
generally assume the offensive; it considers all creatures to be
enemies, and, although it is not acute in either sight or
hearing, it possesses so wonderful a power of scent, that it will
detect a stranger at a distance of five or six hundred yards
should the wind be favourable.

I have observed that a rhinoceros will generally charge down upon
the object that it smells, but does not see; thus when the animal
is concealed either in high grass or thick jungle, should it
scent a man who may be passing unseen to windward, it will rush
down furiously upon the object it has winded, with three loud
whiffs, resembling a jet of steam from a safety-valve. As it is
most difficult and next to impossible to kill a rhinoceros when