162 



Strength, are in full vigour at about a hundred, and lift 

 two or three hundred years. 



A Rhinoceros, next to the elephant, is the most ex- 

 traordinary animal in the Indies. It is usually twelve 

 feet long, from the tip of the nose to the insertion of 

 the tail, from six to seven feet high, and the circum- 

 ference of its body is nearly equal to its length. It is 

 therefore equal to the elephant in bulk, and if it appears 

 much smaller to the eye, the reason is, the legs are 

 much shorter. In other respects it is shaped like a 

 wild. boar. 



It is said to have a very rough tongue, but this is so 

 far from the truth, that no animal of near its size has 

 so soft a one. It is smooth and small like that of a 

 dog; and to the feel, it appears as if one passed the 

 hand over velvet. It has a peculiar cry, a mixture be- 

 tween the grunting of a hog and the bellowing of the 

 calf, The.agcof these animals is not well known : it 

 is said by some that they bring forth at three years 

 old, and if we may reason from analogy, it is probable 

 they seldom live above twenty. 



That which was shewn iu London, was said by its 

 keeper to be eighteen years old, and even at that age 

 he pretended to consider it as a young one ; however 

 it died shortly after, and that probably in the course 

 of nature. It is a native of Asia and Africa, and is 

 usually found in those extensive forests that are Ire* 

 quented by the elephant and lion. As it subsists en- 

 tirely upon vegetable food, it is peaceful and harmless 

 among its fellows of the brute creation ; but though it 

 never provokes to combat, it equally disdains to fly* 

 It is every way fitted for war, but rests contented iu 

 the consciousness of its security. 



His skin is without hair, and so full of scratches and 

 Scabs, that at a distance they may well be taken for 

 scales. On his nose he has a horn of a dark brown 

 colour, which bends backward, and is often two feet 

 long. He has often another horn a little above thi, 

 which never exceeds six inches. His eyes are exceed* 



