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Show 112 HON. W. DRUMMOND ON AFRICAN RHINOCEROSES. [Jan. 18, in favour of this view, and of the interbreeding of R. simus and R. oswelli; while it is worthy of note that Livingstone mentions having seen somewhere near the Zambesi a " black " Rhinoceros with a horn like that of R. oswelli-a statement which proves the possibility of the accidental occurrence of such a peculiarity as the interbreeding of R. oswelli and any of the species known as the " black " is too incredible to be taken into serious consideration. It is, however, not possible to settle this point until it can be proved whether R. simus and R. oswellii do or do not interbreed; and I may therefore pass on to the next species. I may first observe that in using the word R. bicornis for this in common with the next species, I do so under correction, and for the reason that while unable to say with certainty which has been hitherto referred to by different travellers under that name, I think it very probable that both have been so, though they differ so greatly that I cannot but wonder at this being the case, and can only account for it by the fact, which I have myself noticed, that where the one species is rare the other is common, and vice versd. I will commence by describing the larger of the two, the one known on the east as the Kulumane, and up to the Zambesi as the Common Black Rhinoceros. This animal does not, I am inclined to believe, on an average exceed R. keitloa in size, though I have killed individual specimens larger than any I have seen of the latter; it, however, differs from it in its horns, which, though following the conformation of R. simus, never attain to the same size. Their average length in bulls is about 18 inches for the anterior, and 8 inches for the posterior, the circumference of the base of the larger horn being about 18 inches; while in cows, which in all the species have longer and more slender horns, the front one measures 22 inches, and about 16 inches at the base, the back one being about 12 inches in length. It is also worthy of note that the length of the horn in all the black species seldom varies in adults more than 3 or 4 inches, while in both the white a difference of a foot may not uncommonly be found. I have already mentioned when speaking of R. keitloa that the species now under discussion possesses, though in a less marked degree, the peculiar snout and upper lip characteristic of the three " black " species ; and this leads me to the cause of such a provision of nature. R. bicornis minor and R. keitloa live, so far as m y experience goes, entirely on the leaves and branches of trees ; and this remarkable lip acts much in the same manner as the trunk of an Elephant in drawing their food towards their mouths. R. bicornis major, however, though living partly (and I should say chiefly) on the same, also consumes, like R. simus, large quantities of grass ; and therefore its snout possesses the characteristics of both. I have frequently seen them browsing on the grass ; but the possession for a few days of a young calf of this species afforded m e an unusually good opportunity of studying their habits and favourite food. Its mother had been killed on the banks of the Pongolo by one of m y hunters; and the calf had, as is often the case, remained by the carcass during the following night, where we captured it next morning, and after con- |
