388 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



a vessel for some days, should then become a veritable panacea 

 against all ailments and diseases, even tuberculosis and the plague!" 

 Heynsius-Viruly and Van Heurn (1936, pp. 40-47) give the 

 following account: 



On the eastern coast of Sumatra both species of rhinos were known by the 

 natives for ages past. [Reports by Marsden (1811), Raffles (1822), and Hagen 

 (1890) are quoted.] In 1885 Neumann wrote: "... Formerly the export 

 of this article thorn] was rather important, but at present it has largely 

 ceased, first because the rhino has become scarce and secondly because the 

 natives no longer indulge much in hunting." . . . 



The district in Atjeh, now set apart as a large game reserve, is criss-crossed 

 by many . . . rhinoceros paths [apparently made by both species]. . . . 



In 1925 Mr. Hazewinkel had the good fortune to shoot a sondaicus in 

 South Sumatra. Later he shot six more and two sumatrensis. [He tells] 

 how they became aggressive through contact with man (and bullets), how 

 they kill cattle .... 



Presumably the magic power [of the horn] manifests itself in three ways: 



1. A poisonous snake bite may be healed by placing a small piece of the 

 horn on it. 



2. A poisonous drink may be detected by putting it in a tumbler made of 

 rhinoceros horn. If it contains poison, the liquid will foam. 



3. It works as an aphrodisiac when taken in powder form or mixed with 

 water. 



Belief in the first and second of these superstitions is to be found all the 

 way from Arabia to China and Japan. Bombay is one of the most important 

 markets for rhinoceros horn. . . . Even Indo-Europeans sometimes believe in 

 it. ... The general opinion is that the effect is nil or based upon sugges- 

 tion. . . . 



Little is known as yet of the action as an aphrodisiac mentioned above. . . . 



Reports received from Sumatra [as to the occurrence of rhinoceros] . . . 

 are not at all optimistic. The last sondaicus seen in South Palembang is 

 said to have been shot in 1928. In the Lampong Districts the same distinction, 

 reported by Hagen from the East Coast, is made between the "Badak karbo" 

 and the "scaly badak," the latter seemingly being sondaicus. . . . 



Reports from all other parts of Sumatra where rhinoceros are said to occur, 

 always mention that they are found very sporadically only. On the whole, 

 rhinoceros still occur in the plateaus and mountain swamps of Atjeh, espe- 

 cially in the Gajo and Alas districts, in the extensive forests in the hinterland 

 of Langkat, at the salt springs on Sumatra's East Coast, at Indragiri (be- 

 tween Taloek and the P. R. I.), in Riouw, Djambi as well as N. W. Palem- 

 bang (Benarat). On the western coast they are still found in the Barisan 

 Mountains, though in small numbers. In the early 19th century, rhinos 

 were quite numerous in the vicinity of the Peak of Korintjih, but they are 

 practically extinct there since 1915, mainly owing to intensive hunting by 

 means of pit traps. They are threatened with rapid extermination in Bangko, 

 where the controler BB. reports that "they may perhaps hold their own for 

 some ten years more." 



De Voogd [1933] . . . remarks with some sarcasm that since or due 

 perhaps to the hunting expeditions of Hazewinkel about 1925, the rhinos 

 have decreased at a terrific rate. 



Java. Lydekker makes the remarkable statement (1900, p. 27) 



