430 



THE ODD-TOED ANIMALS. 



haphazard, perhaps venting its rage on another and 

 innocent object which it may chance to meet. 

 Reproduction and The female Rhinoceros gives birth 

 Growth of the to only a single young one in any 

 Rhinoceros. one year. It is a small, clumsy 

 beast about the size of a half-grown Pig, and born 

 with open eyes. Its ruddy skin is devoid of folds, 

 but a rudiment of the horn is already to be dis- 

 covered. It is not known how long the young Rhi- 

 noceros remains under the care of its mother; 

 neither is the relation of the father toward his off- 

 spring known. The growth of the young animal 

 progresses rapidly during the first few months. A 

 Rhinoceros which measured about twenty-four 

 inches in height and forty-four inches in length on 

 the third day, grew five inches in height and six 

 inches in length in one month. By the time it is 

 thirteen months old it has usually attained a height 

 of forty-eight inches, a length of eighty and a girth 

 of eighty-four inches. 



Relations Between^ former times many tales were 

 Rhinoceroses and current relative to the friendships 

 Other Animals. an( j animosities of the Rhinoceros. 

 Especially was the Elephant said to be in continu- 

 ous strife with it and to be always defeated. These 

 stories, descending to us from the days of Pliny, 

 are occasionally warmed over by some traveler, but 

 doubtless should be regarded as fables. The stories 

 recounting the friendly relations existing between 

 this animal and weaker creatures are more correct. 

 Anderson, Gordon dimming and other noted trav- 

 elers and writers, nearly always found the Two- 

 horned as well as the large White Rhinoceros at- 

 tended by a friendly bird, to which the animal has 

 lent its own name, and which faithfully accompanies 

 its giant friend throughout the day, in a certain way 

 performs the services of a sentinel and feeds on the 

 vermin with which the animals swarm. It therefore 

 keeps in the immediate neighborhood of the ani- 

 mals or perches on their very bodies. These birds 

 are the best friends of the Rhinoceros and rarely 

 fail to apprize it of an impending danger. Naturally 

 the faithful attendance of these birds is appreciated, 

 for the most dull-witted mammal would feel grate- 

 ful for the great benefit they render it by picking 

 off the tormenting insects. Vet I will leave it an 

 open question whether or not, at the approach of an 

 enemy, especially Man, the birds peck at the ears 

 of the animal upon the body of which they find 

 their favorite food. I incline to the belief that the 

 general restlessness which the feathered sentinels 

 exhibit at the sight of anything suspicious, is suffi- 

 cient to put the Rhinoceros on the alert. We know 

 beyond pcradventure, that certain specially cautious 

 or timid birds are appreciated by other animals as 

 sentinels and warners, and encouraged by them to 

 cultivate intimate social relations. The Rhinoceros 

 probably encounters few willing antagonists besides 

 Man. Lions and Tigers shun the animal, because 

 they know that their claws are too weak to inflict 

 deep or effective wounds upon it because of the 

 protection afforded by its thick coat of mail, but 

 they may occasionally menace a calf separated from 

 its mother. The Rhinoceros fears other small ani- 

 mals much more than it does the large beasts of 

 prey, and finds most annoying foes especially among 

 some kinds of Gad-flies and Mosquitoes. 

 Man the Arch Ene- Man is undoubtedly its mest dan- 

 mi/ of the Rhi- . gerous foe. The people of nations 

 noceros. within whose domain the unwieldy 



creature lives, as well as European sportsmen, pur- 



sue it most diligently. It was formerly erroneously 

 believed that the thick hide was bullet-proof; there 

 is no doubt, however, that a knife, a spear or even 

 an arrow projected from a strong bow can pierce it. 

 The native hunters endeavor to approach the Rhi- 

 noceros against the wind during its sleep, and thrust 

 their spears into its body or apply the muzzles of 

 their guns very close to some vulnerable part in order 

 that it may receive the full impetus of their bullets. 

 The Abyssinians employ javelins, sometimes fling- 

 ing as many as fifty or sixty at one Rhinoceros. 

 When it is somewhat exhausted with the loss of 

 blood, one of the boldest approaches it and tries to 

 hamstring it by severing the main tendon of the 

 hind-leg with a sharp sword, in order to paralyze 

 the movements of the animal and render further 

 resistance impossible. In India Elephants are em- 

 ployed in the chase, but even they are sometimes 

 endangered by the attacks of the infuriated animal. 

 The African species are hunted by Europeans in the 

 same way that Elephants are: the sportsman lies in 

 wait for them at night at their drinking place; they 

 are stealthily approached in the thicket where they 

 lie asleep by day, or the hunters ride up to them in 

 the open country, in order to secure an opportunity 

 to send bullets of large caliber, propelled by heavy 

 charges of powder, into the most vulnerable region 

 of their bodies from the nearest possible distance. 

 Various Methods of The capture of the beast alive is 



Capturing the attended by greater difficulties than 

 Rhinoceros. the hunt. The Wara Rhinoceros is 

 taken mainly on account of its horn, which brings a 

 high price among the Chinese. In order to capture it 

 deep, narrow pits are dug in the course of its paths; 

 these pits are planted with stout, sharp-pointed poles 

 intended to pierce and impale the heavy animal as it 

 falls; they are then carefully covered with branches 

 of trees. The Rhinoceros pursues its usual pathway, 

 breaks through the branches and tumbles into the 

 pit, and even if it escapes being injured, it is still un- 

 able to climb out and effect an escape. The young 

 Rhinoceroses, which are occasionally sold in the 

 various markets of the world, are caught in Africa 

 by hunting parties during the breeding season. Old 

 cows with calves are sought; the mothers are killed 

 and the young are then easily captured. 



Selous recounts a remarkable case of helpless con- 

 fidence shown by a young Two-horned Rhinoceros. 

 One morning as he was setting out for a hunt with 

 his companion, Mr. Wood, they unexpectedly met an 

 old Rhinoceros near a fence, and immediately shot 

 it, hitting it with two bullets. The animal was seri- 

 ously wounded and fled, and then only did they dis- 

 cover that it was a cow, and that a calf a few days 

 old was vainly endeavoring to follow it. The little 

 creature desisted from its purpose and crept under 

 Wood's Horse, while Selous despatched the mother 

 with a final shot. "On returning to my friend," says 

 he, "1 found him sitting under a tree, and the calf 

 standing close to his Horse, which did not seem to 

 be at all afraid of the little monster. The little calf 

 was hardly larger than a half-grown Pig, and showed 

 no sign of fear when we or our native attendants 

 came up to it and stroked it. One circumstance 

 struck me as odd; it perspired violently all over its 

 back, something which I never saw an adult Rhinoc- 

 eros do. As the untamed little orphan followed 

 Wood's Horse, as if it were its mother, we concluded 

 to take it along to our vehicles, which were some six 

 miles away, and to try to rear it. So we set out and 

 the little creature followed us like a Dog. The hot 



