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Show 1876.] DISTRIBUTION OF SOUTH-AFRICAN MAMMALS. 281 simus, mentions having seen eighty of these animals in a day's march ; and on one occasion in the space of half a mile he saw twenty-two and had to kill four in self-defence. A friend of mine whom I met on his way down from the Zambesi, told m e he had only seen five, all B. simus, and all of which he secured. At one time it was not at all uncommon to see B. simus with the anterior horn close on 3 feet and upwards in length; now, however, such animals are rare, most likely from the animal being shot down before it arrived at its full size. The dung of the black and white species differ materially; for whereas that of the former is light-coloured, more resembling that of an Elephant, that of the latter is very dark and much softer: thus a hunter, should he not be experienced enough in " spooring " to know which species he was after, would immediately do so on seeing the dung. Each species of Rhinoceros drinks every night, as m a y be seen by going in the morning to a waterhole, where their fresh spoor may be found, and the water is generally churned up into a filthy mass of mud. After leaving the water they go a long distance in Indian file should there be two or three together, when they spread out and begin to feed. Having had sight, by studying the wind and quietly (for a Rhinoceros is very quick at hearing) placing one's self near the line in which they are advancing, one may get an easy shot at any distance. Nearly every Rhinoceros is accompanied by a few individuals of Buphaga africana, which rid it of its parasites and give it timely warning of danger. W h e n the animal runs, these birds accompany it, hovering over it like flies above a horse's head, uttering a note something like chirri-chirri-chit-chirri all the time. The White Rhinoceros may often be found standing under a tree in the open plains ; and at such places the dung collects into enormous masses, showing that the beast comes to the same tree day after day ; when the mass gets very high the animal levels it with its horn. The Boreli (B. bicornis) always lives in the bush, and is one of the few animals that will charge and hunt a m a n unprovoked; this species often has a sore place behind the shoulder, which is supposed by the natives to be one of the causes of its savageness. B. keitloa is generally known to the hunters by the name of the Blue Rhinoceros. 4. EQUUS QUAGGA. (The Quagga.) The animal commonly so called, is Burchell's Zebra ; the true Quagga I never saw, though Harris mentions it as occurring in great herds, but only to the south of the Vaal river. Whether, since his time, it has become extinct or not is a question; but the few animals of this genus that were seen on the open plains were all clearly Burchell's Zebra. Some few years ago the three species of this genus were in little repute for their skins as compared with the Wildebeest and Blessbok; but of late years it has been discovered that they are of great use for, I believe, connecting-bands for machinery; at any rate their value increased so much that they have been shot down, until you may go for a week through the " High Veldt" and not see one, although there will be thousands of other animals. |