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I have a peculiar stick and I often ask people to guess what it is made of. They usually say “horn” or “hard rubber.” for it will bend. It is really made out of rhinoceros hide. The rhino has very poor eyesight. His little eyes can hardly see at all. He needs glasses. Instead of glasses he has a friend that does his seeing for him. This friend is a little bird called arhino bird that rides on his back, does his seeing for him, and warns him of any danger.
The elephant is another animal with bad eyesight. The elephants in Africa are bigger than those in India.
In India they hunt elephants to catch them alive.
In Africa they hunt elephants to kill them.
In India they catch elephants to tame them and put them to work.
In Africa they catch elephants for their tusks, which are teeth sometimes ten feet long. Just suppose you had two front teeth as long as that. These tusks are ivory and they make fine piano keys.
The ivory business is not, however, as good as it used to be—or as bad as it used to be for the elephants—for men have learned to make a kind of ivory out of cotton and other materials. This takes the place of ivory and comes in many forms called plastics. Plastics are much cheaper than ivory and in many cases much better. Ivory turns yellow and cracks as it gets old, but plastics do not.
But the most curious animals in Africa are the human animals—the Black People. They have very funny ideas about beauty, so we think. We have funny ideas, so they think. A white person is all faded out, pale, unhealthy, sickly looking. A black man is a rich, black, coal color. Our ladies wear rings in their ears. Their ladies wear rings in their noses, where they show better.
