M A M M A L I A — R H I N O C E R O S . 



303 



the sty, and do not quarrel among each other, except when they happen to 

 be fed in common. When enraged, they draw their breath with great 

 force, and their bristles point upward ; nor, on such occasions, can these be 

 said so much to resemble the bristles of the wild boar as the sharp armor of 

 the hedgehog. 



Captain Water ton, who made several excursions into the forests 01 

 Guiana, tells us that the Macoushi Indians are accustomed to kill birds and 

 other game, with arrows dipped in poison called ivourali. This is made 

 from a plant of that name, mixed with several other ingredients, and pre- 

 pared with magical ceremonies and incantations. A large portion of the 

 food of the natives consists of peccaries slain by the poisoned arrows. The 

 bow is commonly used, and the animal seldom runs two hundred paces 

 after being struck before he dies by the effect of the subtle poison. It is 

 remarkable that the flesh of creatures killed in this manner, is perfectly 

 wholesome. Besides the bow, the Indians often use a tube made of a reed 

 eleven or twelve feet in length, through which the arrow is sent by the 

 breath with great precision and considerable force. Birds are generally kill- 

 ed in this way, and sometimes larger animals. 



THE RHINOCEROS. i 



After the elephant, the rhinoceros is the most powerful of all quadrupeds. 

 He is at least twelve feet in length, from the extremity of the snout to the 



1 Rhinoceros of India, Rhinoceros Indicus, Sumatra Rhinoceros. Rhinoceros Sondaicus, 

 and Rhinoceros Sumatrensis, (two species.) Two horned Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros Afri- 

 canus and Rhinoceros Camus, (two species.) The genus Rhinoceros has sometimes 

 none, sometimes two, and sometimes four upper and the same number of lower incisors ; 

 no canines ; twelve or fourteen upper and the same number of lower molars. Incisors 

 unequal among themselves when thev exist ; anterior molars small, the posterior increas- 

 ing progressively ; eyes small, lateral ; ears long, narrow ; three toes on all the feet ; one 

 or two horns placed on the nose, above the nasal cavity ; skin very thick, naked and 

 rugous ; tail snort, laterally compressed. 



