is short and triangular ; but the nasal bones are well 

 developed, and form a strong vault, on the summit 

 of which the base of the horn rests. The eyes are 

 very small ; and there are two strong incisive teeth 

 in each jaw. When in health, the skin of the animal 

 is blackish grey, with a slight tinge of violet. When 

 full grown, it attains the length of eight or nine feet ; 

 but it does not stand mush more than half the height 

 of the elephant. It is a strong and powerful animal 

 and easily excited, in which state it is equally bold 

 and persevering in its attacks. What the natural 

 enemies of the rhinoceros may be, it is not easy 

 to say ; though its proneness to make the attack, 

 which has no reference whatever to the rinding of its 

 food, would lead us to suppose that this pugnacious 

 instinct has not been given to it in vain. 



In consequence of its boldness and strength, the 

 hunting of the rhinoceros is one of the most splendid 

 and hazardous of the wild sports of the East. It is 

 to be sought for in the jungles, and is often found in 

 parties of about half a dozen, led on by the biggest 

 of the whole, as is the case with the herds of ele- 

 phants. In the tall vegetation of the Indian jungle, 

 the sportsmen cannot hunt for this animal unless they 

 are mounted on elephants ; and they find it necessary 

 to go in bands, so that while some of the elephants 

 are receiving the charge of the rhinoceros, the others 

 may take aim and wound them. A single one is 

 said, in the first instance, to seek safety in a retreat 

 into a closer part of the jungle ; but, if again roused, 

 it advances to the attack. Its object appears to be 

 to get at the elephant on the side ; and passing the 

 horn in below it, to wound it in the belly, or fairly 

 rip it open. The elephant is also said not to attempt 

 using the tusks, which would not, of course, be able 

 to toss so weighty an animal. What may be done 

 in a state of nature we have no means of knowing, 

 for nobody has recorded, and probably nobody ever 

 saw, a battle between a rhinoceros and an elephant 

 in wild nature, nor probably between a rhinoceros 

 and any other creature. But in cases of hunting, 

 the elephant does not appear to have any means of 

 warding off the attack ; but wheels round, and receives 

 it on the hinder part of the body, on which the horn 

 has not much effect in the way of laceration ; but the 

 impetus of the animal is such, that it hurls the ele- 

 phant to the earth ; and this it will continue to do 

 again and again for some time. It is not unlikely 

 that the elephant, if free in wild nature, would con- 

 tinue to receive these attacks till its opponent were 

 exhausted, and then have recourse to its own mode 

 of warfare with advantage ; but this is merely matter 

 of conjecture, upon which there appears to be no 

 means of getting real information. 



As far as can be judged from the few specimens 

 which have been kept in menageries in Europe, the 

 rhinoceros does not appear to be in any way fero- 

 cious; though its efforts to break down its prison-house 

 and obtain its freedom are often repeated. In such 

 places the elephant and the rhinoceros 'are shown to 

 very great disadvantage, on account of the smallness 

 of the dens or cages in which they are pent up. 

 This is considered necessary to the safety of the spec- 

 tators, and it also suits well with the economy of 

 those who pay the expenses of the spectacle. Truly, 

 however, an animal pent up in a crib which barely 

 enables it to turn round, is but a miserable sight, a 

 little better than a stuffed skin we grant, but only a 

 little better. If we are to see the animal in such a 



RHINOCEROS. 369 



way as to have any idea of what it is in a state of na- 

 ture, we must give it free scope for the performance 

 of its natural action ; and thus all that we can know of 

 a living rhinoceros, kept as these animals are usually 

 kept, amounts to little more than an artificial know- 

 ledge of them. 



Pretty circumstantial details are given, by M. F. 

 Cuvier, of one which was kept in the royal menagerie 

 at Paris. It was but a young animal, yet of consi- 

 derable size, measuring about eight feet in length, and 

 standing five feet and a half in height. From the 

 shortness of the legs, and the compact massive form 

 of the body, this must have been an animal of great 

 weight and power ; and if it had been allowed space 

 enough in which to acquire its momentum, its den 

 would have required to be of great strength. Its 

 general deportment was mild and gentle ; it knew its 

 keeper, was not wholly unobservant of persons and 

 things around it, had no reluctance to be fed, and 

 obeyed a few very simple commands upon receiving 

 food after each act of obedience. No particular 

 attention appears, however, to have been paid to the 

 calling out of its instincts in any way that could be 

 considered as even preparatory to domestication ; 

 and its efforts to get out of the prison-house were so 

 violent and incessant, that many liberties were not 

 taken with it. The skin was, as has been stated of 

 the genus, nearly naked of hair. It was marked with 

 tubercles, and of the same dark purplish grey that 

 we have mentioned, only in the depths of the folds it 

 was flesh-coloured. This skin had to be wetted with 

 water every day, otherwise it was apt to chap and 

 crack. The irregularities of the skin on the head, 

 and the external surface of the legs, were formed into 

 elongated ridges, and gave these parts the appearance 

 of being furrowed. These furrowed parts are natu- 

 rally the ones which have to undergo the severest 

 fatigue when the animal is finding its food or making 

 its way among the close vegetation of the jungle. 



RHINOCEROS OF JAVA (R. Sondiacui). This is 

 another species with only one horn, and was first dis- 

 covered, or at all events described, by the French 

 naturalists Diard and Duvancel, when they, in part at 

 least, explored that island of natural wonders. It is 

 smaller, at least in the specimens that have been seen, 

 than the Indian species. The length, from the 

 membrane of the tail to the ears, is six feet ; and from 

 the ears to the extremity of the upper lip, about two 

 feet more ; but as the animal carries the head some- 

 thing in the manner that the hog does, with the axis 

 nearly horizontal, the whole eight feet may be said to 

 be included in the continuous length. The tail is 



