560 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



evidently surprised in cover. He heard us and had not got the wind. 

 On being hit, unless killed outright, they usually grunt, and also do so 

 while charging. Burman hunters say that rhinoceroses are very ten- 

 acious of life after being wounded. No doubt with the weapons they 

 used on them they were so ; the wonder is they killed them at all. As 

 with any other kind of game, I do not think any one has a right to press 

 trigger unless he has a reasonable shot, giving a fair chance of bagging 

 the animal. 



Pace. — When disturbed they set off at a smart gallop making a great 

 deal of noise by rushing through all minor obstructions and as a rule 

 making more noise than a solitary elephant. Following up immediate- 

 ly is generally of little use as after being disturbed they usually travel 

 a long distance and keep a sharp look-out. It is therefore, as a rule, 

 better to give up the hunt and take up the tracks at dawn on the follow- 

 ing morning. 



The track of a rhinoceros is unmistakable. The presence of the 

 impress of three claw marks is sufficient, that of sondaicus differing only 

 from sumatrensis in size. 



I have heard it said and believe it is recorded that rhinoceroses cannot 

 swim. In common with many popular ideas it is a pure fallacy. Thoy 

 swim well, crossing rivers, etc., when they desire to do so. I re- 

 member an instance in which one was killed while crossing the Tenasserim. 



It is unnecessary to enter into a description of these animals as this 

 may be found in various books on Natural History. 



Burmans and Chinamen place a very high value on the horns and 

 blood of rhinoceroses as medicinal articles. "Wherein their virtues as 

 drugs lie I do not know, but they are supposed to be most potent, es- 

 pecially in all diseases not yielding to ordinary drugs. I expect their 

 fictitious powers are derived from the fact that, like the milk of a tigress 

 or liver of crocodile and such other materials, they are not easily 

 get-at-able nor always at hand to include in prescriptions. The local 

 doctor, in the event of his patient doing badly, can always save his 

 reputation by claiming that if he had some of these potent remedies 

 he could still effect a cure. 



After hitting a rhinoceros, if he is considered to be ' in extremis ' the 

 tracker and any followers are down on him like vultures, the first thing, 

 an all important business, being to plug any bullet holes in order to 

 save as much blood as possible. If any be escaping rapidly from a 



