CHAPTER IX. 

 THE ASIATIC RHINOCEROSES. 



THE ONE-HORNED RHINOCEROSES — THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS — ITS THICK HIDE — MODE OF HUNTING 



THE WARA OR JAVANESE RHINOCEROS — THE EMPEROR BABER — THE TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS 

 OR BADAK OF SUMATRA — THE FIRE-EATING RHINOCEROS — THE ROUGH-EARED RHINOCEROS. 



DOCTOR GRAY, in his last Catalogue of Mammalia, groups the 

 Asiatic Rhinoceroses into two genera. Rhinoceros and Ccrato- 

 r/iinus. The tormcr comprehends those species which have the 

 armor-like hide divided into distinct shield-like plates, the latter those in 

 which the hide has divisions only at the shoulders and the loins ; the 

 former have one horn, the latter two ; there are also differences in the 

 dentition of the genera. 



THE ONE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 



The Indian Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros Indicus (Plate XXXV), attains a 

 length of twelve feet, including its tail, and stands about five feet high ; its 

 weight is about forty-five hundred pounds. Its head is short and triangu- 

 lar ; its mouth, of a moderate size, has an upper lip, which is longer than 

 the lower, pointed and movable. It has in each jaw two strong incisor 

 teeth. Its eyes are small ; its ears are rather long and movable. The 

 horn upon its nose is pointed, conical, not compressed, sometimes two 

 feet in length, and slightly curved backwards. This singular weapon is 

 composed of a cluster of hairs closely adherent ; for when the point is 

 blunted, it is often seen divided into fibres resembling the hairs of a brush. 

 This horn is, however, very firm and hard, of a brownish-red on the out- 

 side, of a golden-yellow inside, and tjlack in the centre. 



The thick, horny hide lies upon a thick layer of loose cellular tissue, 

 and is thus capable of being easily moved to and fro. This integument 

 is divided into plates by regular deep folds which exist even in the new- 

 born young ones. The skin in these folds is very soft and thin, while the 



