A'nasa

An African unicorn, seen by the Baron von Müller in Sudan on 17 April 1848, when it was shown to him by a dealer in Melpes.

It is the size of a small donkey, has a thick body and thin bones, coarse hair, and tail like a boar. It has a long horn on its forehead, and lets it hang when alone, but erects it immediately on seein an enemy. It is a formidable weapon, but I do not know its exact length. The a'nasa is found not far from here [Melpes], towards the south-southwest. I have seen it often in the wild grounds, where the negroes kill it, and carry it home to make shields from its skin.

The dealer was familiar with fetit or rhinoceros, which is not the same as a'nasa. The flesh was said to be well flavoured, according to a slave-trader, whom the baron had talked to in Kordofan.

This was first published in the Athenaum, January 1849.