"As to the figures," answered the Doctor, "we learn, on the authority of those who have hunted him, that the white rhinoceros of Africa will sometimes measure fourteen feet from nose to tail, and his girth often exceeds eleven feet. His horn will sometimes be five feet long, but much more frequently it is about three feet. One variety of the rhinoceros has a double horn, the second one being a little back from the first and considerably shorter--frequently nothing more than a protuberance. "Gordon Cumming says that, notwithstanding his short legs and generally unwieldy body, the rhinoceros is quick in his movements, and a horseman can scarcely overtake him. Another hunter says he can dart like lightning, and in strength is unsurpassed by any animal of the forest. There is an old story that a rhinoceros was once sent as a present to the King of Portugal. One day in a rage he destroyed the ship on which he was being transported, and the sailors had great difficulty to escape in the boats. When we think of the frail construction of ships two or three centuries ago and the strength of the rhinoceros, we can hardly treat the story as a gross fabrication." "You mentioned the white rhinoceros a moment ago," said one of the boys. "Is he more dangerous than his black brother?" "He is the larger but the less offensive of the two," said the Doctor, in response to the question. "The black one will attack without provocation, while the white rhinoceros, though the larger, asks to be let alone, and only shows fight when compelled to defend himself. [Illustration: TROUBLE IN THE RHINOCEROS FAMILY.] "The black rhinoceros is ready to attack man, elephant, or lion without warning, and sometimes, when he is anxious for a fight, he will get one up with his own brother or a near relative. It is a providential circumstance that his eye is small, and so badly placed that he cannot see with ease. If he had good eyesight he would be vastly more dangerous than he is. [Illustration: BAD FOR THE DOG.] "Mr. Oswell, an African hunter and explorer, who discovered Lake N'gami, tells how he was one day walking quietly to camp, when he saw two large rhinoceroses feeding on the plain. At sight of him the animals advanced in his direction, and he stopped and took aim at one of them. He knew that a shot in the forehead of the rhinoceros has no worse effect than to tickle him, as though it were the touch of a fan; but, as the beast might be angry at being struck with a fan, he is liable to resent a shot on his skull. Mr. Oswell did not get a chance to fire at a vulnerable point, and as the animals continued to approach he determined to try a run past them, trusting to their bad eyesight to enable him to escape. "He brushed close to one of them in his rush to escape, but a loud snort told him he had been seen. He turned and fired, and the next moment felt himself impaled on the animal's horn.