History of the Rhinoceros 89 



illustrated "Description of Animals," the Manafi-i-heiwan, translated 

 from Arabic into Persian and completed between 1295 and 1300. 

 Here we have the interesting case that the author of this article, C. 

 Anet, who evidently does not read Persian, mistakes the rhinoceros 

 for "a horned gnu." But the picture is entitled in Persian kerkeden 

 (or kargadan), "the rhinoceros," and it is therefore superfluous to dis- 

 cuss the point that it cannot represent a gnu. 1 Although the creature 

 has the shape of an ox, exactly as on the Assyrian obelisk and in the 

 Chinese woodcut (Fig. 5), with the additional hump of a zebu 2 and 

 black antelope-like stripes on its body, it is unmistakably characterized 

 by a single horn in the form of a crescent. 3 



In order to understand how the early Chinese illustrations of the 

 rhinoceros alluded to by Mr. Giles were made, it is imperative to study 

 the ancient definitions of the two words se and si. These definitions 

 are sufficiently clear to place us on the right track in nicely dis- 

 criminating between the two words, which plainly refer to two distinct 

 species of rhinoceros. The weak point in Mr. Giles's definition of 

 "bovine animal" 4 is that it is somewhat generalized, and leaves us 

 entirely in the dark as to the difference between the two words se and si. 

 They are physically differentiated words, and are expressed by different 

 symbols in writing. 



Se-ma Ts'ien 5 mentions the two species of rhinoceros and elephant 

 as inhabitants of the country of Shu (Sze-ch'uan). 6 The commentator 



1 A species of antelope restricted to Africa, which could hardly be expected in 

 Persian art. 



2 This hints at the square-mouthed or white rhinoceros of Africa. One of the 

 peculiarities of this species is the prominent, rounded, fleshy hump on the nape 

 of the neck, just forward of the withers (E. Heller, The White Rhinoceros, p. 20, 

 Washington, 1913). 



3 A representation of the rhinoceros in sculpture is spoken of in a Persian descrip- 

 tion of the province of Fars from the beginning of the twelfth century; in Istakhr 

 the portrait-statue of King Jamshid was erected in stone, with his left hand grasping 

 the neck of a lion, or else seizing a wild ass by the head, or again he is taking a unicorn 

 (or rhinoceros) by the horn, while in his right hand he holds a hunting-knife, which 

 he has plunged into the belly of the lion or unicorn (G. Le Strange, Journal R. As. 

 Soc.,^ 1912, p. 27). In the Annals of the T'ang Dynasty it is on record that in 746 a.d. 

 Persia offered a rhinoceros and an elephant (Chavannes, T'oung Pao, 1904, p. 76). 



4 What wild bovine animal should be understood has never been indicated. 

 6 Shi ki, Ch. 117, pp. 3 b, 7 b. 



6 Our historians of Japan have been greatly puzzled by the fact that the Japanese 

 Buddhist monk Tiao-jan (Japanese Chonen), who came to China in 984, stated in his 

 report embodied in Sung shi (Ch. 494, p. 4 b) that there were in his native country 

 water-buffalo, donkeys, sheep, and plenty of — thus it has been translated — 

 rhinoceroses and elephants (for example, by P. A. Tschepe, Japans Beziehungen zu 

 China, p. 89, Yen-chou fu, 1907). O. Nachod (Geschichte von Japan, Vol. I, p. 22) 

 went so far as to appeal to a misunderstanding on the part of the Japanese informant, 

 which he believes cannot be surprising, as Tiao-jan, though well versed in the written 

 characters of the Chinese, did not understand their spoken language. This argu- 



