Ghanzé, it would appear, has been long known to the Bechuanas and the Griquas. A party of the latter, I was told, reached it many years previously to my arrival in a despairing state, having been obliged to abandon their wagons in the Kalahari. The body of men from whom I obtained my interpreter had also visited it. It had even been frequented by Europeans. An English traveler, Moyle, crossed the desert in safety, and arrived at Ghanzé in 1852, on a trading and hunting expedition. From this place he was guided by Bushmen to Great Namaqua-land, whence he retraced his steps home. The year after this he again crossed the desert, though under unfavorable circumstances, having, with the exception of two horses, lost all his beasts of burden, as also his servants, some of whom died from want.
Almost the first animal I saw at this place was a gigantic “tiger-wolf,” or spotted hyæna, which, to my surprise, instead of seeking safety in flight, remained stationary, grinning in the most ghastly manner. Having approached within twenty paces, I perceived, to my horror, that his fore paws, and the skin and flesh of his front legs, had been gnawed away, and that he could scarcely move from the spot. To shorten the sufferings of the poor beast, I seized my opportunity and knocked him on the head with a stone, and, catching him by the tail, drove my hunting knife deep into his side; but I had to repeat the operation more than once before I could put an end to his existence. I am at a loss how to account for his mangled condition. It certainly could not have been from age, for his teeth were good. Could it be possible that, from want of food, he had become too weak for further exertions, and that, as a last resource, he had attacked his own body? or was he an example of that extraordinary species of cruelty said to be practiced by the lion on the hyæna when the latter has the insolence to interfere with the monarch’s prey?[71]
Fortune once again favored us; for, in the course of the few days we remained at Ghanzé, several rhinoceroses were shot, affording an abundance of provisions. These animals were very numerous, but rather shy. One night I counted twenty defiling past me, though beyond reach. The cause of so unusual a number being seen together was as follows: In the early part of the night, one or two were approaching the water, but, having winded me, they kept walking restlessly round the place, grunting and snorting most viciously. This had the effect of putting those who arrived later on guard, and they soon joined company.
Of all the South African animals, not the least curious, perhaps, is the rhinoceros. He inhabits a large portion of the African continent—such localities, at least, as are suitable to his habits. Formerly, as before mentioned, he was common even in the immediate vicinity of Cape-Town; but, owing to constant persecution, is now rarely met farther to the southward (I speak of the West Coast) than about the twenty-third degree of latitude. In the interior, however, the tribe is still very numerous. “On one occasion,” says Captain Harris, in a private letter, “while walking from the wagons to bring the head of a koodoo that I had killed about a mile off, I encountered twenty-two rhinoceroses, and had to shoot four of them to clear the way.”
The rhinoceros is, moreover, an inhabitant of Bengal, Siam, China, and other countries of Asia; also of Java, Sumatra, and Ceylon. But the three species[72] indigenous to this quarter of the globe would seem to be quite different from any yet found in Africa. Almost all the Asiatic species have an exceedingly coarse hide, covered with large folds, not unlike a coat of mail, while that of the African species is comparatively smooth. Two of the Indian rhinoceroses have only one horn, whereas all the African are provided with two.[73] The third Asiatic species, which is found in the island of Sumatra, resembles the African in having two horns, but in other respects differs considerably.
Though the rhinoceros is abundant in the interior of Africa, it is described as far more numerous in Asia, and as less generally distributed than the elephant.
HEADS OF RHINOCEROSES.[74]
Four distinct species of rhinoceroses are known to exist in South Africa, two of which are of a dark color, and two of a whitish hue. Hence they are usually designated the “black” and the “white” rhinoceros.
One of the two species of “black”—the Borele, as it is called by the Bechuanas—is the common small black rhinoceros (rhinoceros bicornis); the other, the Keitloa (rhinoceros Keitloa), or the two-horned black rhinoceros, as it is also termed by naturalists. The latter differs from the Borele in being somewhat larger, with a longer neck; in having the horns of nearly equal length, with a lesser number of wrinkles about the head; and it is of a more wild and morose disposition. The upper lip of both (more especially in the Keitloa) is pointed, overlaps the lower, and is capable of extension. It is pliable, and the animal can move it from side to side, twist it round a stick, collect its food, or seize with it any thing it would carry to its mouth. Both species are extremely fierce, and, excepting the buffalo, are perhaps the most dangerous of all the beasts in Southern Africa.