754 HABITS OF THE RHINOCEROS. 
of the rainbow, and bear a strong resemblance to transverse sections of actual hair. At 
the birth of the young animal, the horn is hardly visible, and its full growth is the work 
of years. 
As the horn is employed as a weapon of offence, and is subjected to violent concussions, 
it is set upon the head in such a manner as to save the brain from the injurious effects 
which might result from its use in attack or combat. In the first place, the horn has no 
direct connexion with the skull, as it is simply set upon the skin, and can be removed by 
passing a sharp knife round its base, and separating it from the hide on which it grows. 
In the second place, the bones of the face are curiously developed, so as to form an arch 
with one end free, the horn being placed upon the crown of the bony arch, so as to 
diminish the force of the concussion in the best imaginable manner. The substance of 
the horn is very dense, and even when it is quite dry, it possesses very great weight in 
proportion to its size. In former days, it was supposed to bear an antipathy to poison, 
and to cause effervescence whenever liquid poison was poured upon it. Goblets were 
therefore cut from this material, and when gorgeously mounted in gold and precious stones, 
were employed by Eastern monarchs as a ready means for detecting any attempt to 
administer a deadly drug. 
The skin of the Rhinoceros is of very great thickness and streneth, bidding defiance 
to ordinary bullets, and forcing the hunter to provide himself with balls which have been 
hardened with tin or solder. The extreme strength of the skin is well known both to the 
Asiatic and African natives, who manufacture it into shields and set a high value on these 
weapons of defence 
All the species of Rhinoceros are very tetchy in their temper, and liable to flash out 
into anger without any provocation whatever. During these fits of rage, they are 
dangerous neighbours, and are apt to attack any moving “object that may be within their 
reach. In one well-known instance, where a Rhinoceros made a sudden dash upon a 
number of picketed horses, and killed many of them by the strokes of his horn, the 
animal had probably been irritated by some unknown cause, and wreaked his vengeance 
on the nearest victims. During the season of love, the male Rhinoceros is always vicious, 
and, like the elephant, the buffalo, and other animals in the lke condition, will conceal 
himself in some thicket, and from thence dash out upon any moving object that may 
approach his retreat. 
Sometimes the Rhinoceros will commence a series of most extraordinary antics, and 
seeming to have a spite towards some particular bush, will rip it with his horn, trample 
it with his feet, roarmg and grunting all the while, and will never cease until he has cut 
it into shreds and levelled it with the ground, He will also push the point of his horn 
into the earth, and career along, ploughing up the ground as if a furrow had been cut 
by some agricultural implement, In such case it seems that the animal is not labouring 
under a fit of rage, as might be sup yposed, but is merely exulting in his strength, and 
giving vent to the exuberance of health by violent phy sical exertion. 
The Rhinoceros is a good aquatic, and will voluntarily swim for considerable distances. 
It is very fond of haunting the river-banks and wallowing in the mud, so as to case itself 
with a thick coat of that substance, in order to shield itself from the mosquitoes and other 
mordant insects which cluster about the tender places, and drive the animal, thick-skinned 
though it may be, half mad with their constant and painful bites. In Sumatra, a curious 
result sometimes follows from this habit of mud wallowing, as may be seen from the 
following extract from the “Journal of the Indian Archipe lago.” “This animal, which is 
of solitary habits, is found frequently in marshy places w ith its whole body immersed in 
the mud, and part of the head only visible. T he Malays call the animal ‘ Badak-Tapa,’ or 
the recluse Rhinoceros. Towards the close of the rainy season they are said to bury them- 
selves in this manner in different places; and upon the dry weather setting in, and from 
the powerful effects of a vertical sun, the mud becomes hard and crusted, and the 
Rhinoceros cannot effect its escé ape without considerable difficulty and exertion. The 
Semangs prepare themselves with large quantities of combustible materials with which 
they quietly approach the animal, who is aroused from his reverie by an immense fire 
over him, which, being kept well supplied by the Semangs with fresh fuel, soon completes 
his destruction, and renders him in a fit state to make a meal of.” 
