RHODE ISLAND 



4995 



RHODE ISLAND 



known to the ancients of Oriental countries and 

 was even used in the games of the circus in 

 Rome before the time of Christ, but later it 

 was so completely lost to the European world 

 that it was believed to be extinct. When the 

 Portuguese discovered the ocean route to India 

 in the fifteenth century this animal was redis- 

 covered, and a present of one was sent to the 

 king of Portugal by an Eastern prince in 1513. 



Almost up to the present time it was be- 

 lieved that any article made from the horns 

 had magic properties; that a cup of rhinoceros 

 horn, for instance, would fall to pieces if poison 

 were poured into it. Specimens of the Indian 

 rhinoceros have become so rare that they are 

 now protected by-law. There is a similar but 

 smaller rhinoceros native to Southern India, the 

 Malay peninsula and the Malayan islands, which 

 is also one-homed ; there is a Sumatran species 

 which is very small and quite hairy, and there 

 is a fourth which is distinguished by its hairy 

 ears. 



The two African species, both two-homed, 

 are known as the black and the white rhinoc- 

 eros, although they are almost exactly the same 

 color. The black rhinoceros uses its first horn, 

 which is sometimes as much as three and one- 

 half feet long, for attacking and defending itself 

 against an enemy, and for digging. So strong 

 is this horn that the animal easily uproots and 

 overturns bushes and small trees with it, that 

 it may more conveniently feed on the foliage. 

 In size and habits the black rhinoceros much 

 resembles the Indian species, although it is 

 much more savage. It remains concealed by 

 day and wanders about at night in search of 

 food and water. The white rhinoceros, more 

 northerly and now nearly extinct, is even larger 

 than the black. 



Hunting the Rhinoceros. The Indian rhi- 

 noceros, because it lives in jungles and thick- 



ets of grass and reeds that sometimes grow to a 

 height of twenty feet, can be hunted only with 

 elephants. Sometimes it is tracked to its lair 

 with a single elephant ; sometimes a hunter, fol- 

 lowing the well-beaten track to a drinking 

 place will surprise it wallowing shoulder deep 

 in a mudhole. It is more common, however, 

 to beat the animal out with a line of elephants, 

 stationing hunters at intervals along the edge 

 of the jungle to shoot it when it breaks from 

 cover. While this species is believed to be 

 quiet and inoffensive unless provoked, it turns 

 very savage under attack and fights furiously, 

 using its horn occasionally, but more often at- 

 tacking with its long, sharp teeth. It is difficult 

 to kill because of its thick, tough skin; for 

 this reason, hunters invariably use steel-tipped 

 bullets. The African rhinoceros is hunted by 

 the natives for food, and by the big game 

 hunters for sport. In spite of its apparent 

 clumsiness it is a swiftly-moving animal, but 

 it can run as fast as a horse for only a short 

 distance. 



Rhinoceros Bird. The rhinoceros has no ene- 

 mies except man and the insects and vermin 

 which infest the tender places concealed by the 

 thickly-folded skin. It gets relief by wallow- 

 ing all day in the mud and by making friends 

 with a little bird, about the size of a thrush, 

 which is known as the rhinoceros bird. It 

 perches on the animal's head or broad back, 

 and hops about devouring the insects which 

 torture the huge beast. It is further believed 

 that these birds warn the rhinoceros of ap- 

 proaching danger, because they have frequently 

 been observed running about the animal's head, 

 flapping their wings and uttering shrill, warn- 

 ing notes; the beast seems to understand tlu Mi- 

 meaning. A.C. 



Consult Hornaday's Two Years in the Jun- 

 gle; Baker's Wild Beasts and Their Ways. 



C STORY OF RHODE ISLAND] 



VHODE ISLAND, popularly called LIT- 

 TLE RHODY, belongs to the New England group, 

 and is the smallest state in the Union. The 

 state was long known as RHODE ISLAND AND 



PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS This was the name 

 given to the colony in an early charter, and it 

 remained in common use until 1842. The ori- 

 gin of the state name is uncertain, the usual ex- 



