66 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



The skin, as stated, is very thick, with a deep fold 

 at the setting on of the head, another being 

 behind the shoulder, and a third in front of the 

 thighs. Two large incisors are in each jaw, with 

 two smaller intermediate ones below, and two still 

 smaller outside the upper incisors, the last are not 

 always present. The general colour is dusky black. 

 The dimensions of one I bagged were as follows : 

 extreme length of body, twelve and a half feet ; tail, 

 two feet ; height, six feet two inches ; horn, fourteen 

 inches. These animals delight in swamps and mud 

 holes, and even in running streams, and " lie up" in 

 them during the heat of the day. The lesser 

 rhinoceros is found in the Soonderbunds, near Calcutta, 

 and in all suitable localities on the left bank of 

 the Brahmapootra river. I never came across it on 

 the right bank, but doubtless it exists there too, as 

 all these beasts wander about a good deal in search 

 of food. In appearance it somewhat resembles the 

 larger, but the folds are not so pronounced, and 

 the shields have often tubercles on them, and it is 

 said it is attracted by fire. The Burmese assert it eats 

 it ! As a rule the rhinoceros is very inoffensive. 

 It lives in such remote localities, that none but 

 a hunter thinks of intruding upon its habitat, but 

 if there be any grain grown within a few miles of 

 their outlying haunts, it will march long distances 

 during a night to feed upon it. To get these animals 

 in fairly open ground, the sportsman must be in their 

 preserves at daybreak, for the beasts soon retire into 

 impenetrable forests where there are mudholes, and 

 in them takes their siestas. It is naturally a timid 

 animal, more anxious to escape than fight, is very 



