estimony of the
natives, 'that the size of the horns is in no instance occasioned by
disease,' completely refutes the fanciful theory given by Mr. Bruce
respecting this creature. It appears by the papers annexed to the last
edition of Mr. Bruce's work, that he never met with the Sanga; but that
he made many attempts to procure specimens of the horns, through Yanni,
a Greek, residing at Adowa. This old man very correctly speaks of them,
in his letters, as being only brought by the Cafilas from Antalo; and I
have now ascertained that they are sent to this country as valuable
presents, by the chiefs of the Galla, whose tribes are spread to the
southward of Enderta. So far, then, as to the description of the horns,
and the purposes to which they are applied by the Abyssinians, Mr.
Bruce's statements may be considered as correct; but with respect to
'the disease which occasions their size, probably derived from their
pasture and climate,' 'the care taken of them to encourage this
disease,' 'the emaciation of the animal,' and 'the extending of the
disorder to the spine of the neck, which at last becomes callous, so
that it is not any longer in the power of the animal to lift its head,'
they all prove to be mere ingenious conjectures, thrown out by the
author solely for the exercise of his own ingenuity.

"I should not venture to speak so positively upon this matter, had I
not indisputably ascertained the facts; for the Ras having subsequently
made me a present of three of these animals alive, I found them not only
in excellent health, but so exceedingly wild, that I was obliged to have
them shot. The horns of one of these are now deposited in the Museum of
the Surgeons' College, and a still larger pair are placed in the
collection of Lord Valentia, at Arley Hall. The length of the largest
horn of this description was nearly four feet, and its circumference at
the base twenty-one inches.

"It might have been expected that the animal, carrying horns of so
extraordinary a magnitude, would have proved larger than others
belonging to the same genus; but in every instance which came under my
observation, this was by no means the case. The etching on the following
page, which was copied from an original sketch (taken from the life),
may serve to convince the reader of this fact; and it will convey a
better idea of the animal than any description in writing I can pretend
to give. I shall only further observe, that its colour appeare