The former feed chiefly on the leaves and twigs of thorns, such as the _Acacia horrida_, or "wait-a-bits," while the latter live upon grass.
The former are of fiercer disposition--will attack man or any other animal on sight; and even sometimes seem to grow angry with the bushes, charging upon them and breaking them to pieces! The white rhinoceroses, although fierce enough when wounded or provoked, are usually of pacific disposition, and will permit the hunter to pass without molestation.
These become very fat, and make excellent eating.

The flesh of no African animal is esteemed superior to the calf of the white rhinoceros, whereas the black varieties never grow fat, and their flesh is tough and unpalatable.
The horns of all four are used by the natives for many purposes, being solid, of fine texture, and susceptible of a high polish.

Out of the longer horns the natives manufacture "knobkerries" (clubs), and loading-rods for their guns.

The shorter ones afford material for mallets, drinking-cups, handles for small tools, and the like.

In Abyssinia, and other parts of Northern Africa, where swords are in use, sword-hilts are made from the horns of the rhinoceros.
The hide is also used for different purposes, among others for making the whips known as "jamboks," though hippopotamus-hide is superior.
The skin of the African rhinoceros, as already stated, is without the plaits, folds, and scutellae, that characterise its Asiatic congener, yet it is far from being a soft one.