In the Kongo language, Abada refers to a mythical animal similar to a unicorn. The Abada, however, has two crooked horns as opposed to a unicorn's single one. The Abada's horns hang limp and soft when it is relaxed or sleeping, but hardens when it feels threatened. The Abada's horns can act as an antidote to poison and disease. It is also claimed that natives would hunt the male Abadas to use their skin as shields. The Abada is also known as Nillekma or Arase.
It has been described as being the size of a small donkey with the tail of a boar. In many tales, the Abada is said to appear during moments of hardship, such as when a traveler is lost or someone is gravely ill. Its arrival is viewed as a sign of good fortune and a supernatural source of hope.
Outside of Conglese myth the Abada is also found in Indonesian, Malay, and Tartar mythologies in which the Abada is portrayed as a primarily female creature with a shy disposition.
it is believed the word "Bada" is of either Malay or Arabic origin. "badak" being the modern term for Rhinoceras and Hippopotamus in modern Malay, often used interchangeably for both species. The term "Abida" meaning wild animal in Arabic.
"Badas" or "Abadas" is the old Portuguese word for Rhinoceras. Although it was first used to describe a unicorn-like creature in the 17th century via the Capuchin missionary Giovani Antonio Cavazzi da Montecucco, claiming it was called the "Abada" by the local Congolese.
Although often compared, Father Balthazar Tellez recorded a quote from a Portuguese man who had lived in Abyssinia distinguishes the Abada from the traditional unicorn on account of it's horns. "It is important that the unicorn is not to be confounded with the Abada, about which they usually dispute; This one may see by the difference of their names, as well as by the difference of their body and parts, and it would appear by the Abada which we have seen and by the unicorn which we have seen painted. The latter has a long straight horn of admirable virtue; The Abada has two crooked horns, which are not sovereign, although they will serve as antidotes against poison."