236 BIG GAME SHOOTING \ 



worthy men in charge of the mahouts of the pad elephants. ; 

 A rhinoceros when roused makes such a noise crashing through \ 

 the reeds and snorting, that, though he rarely charges home, 

 and even then only bites instead of using his horn, he fairly | 

 terrifies both mahouts and their animals, and consequently, \ 

 unless the line is under good control, the beating is carried out 

 in a very half-hearted manner. The usual pace of a rhinoceros 

 is a trot, but he will sometimes break into a gallop and gets * 

 over the ground with surprising speed. When shot they usually « 

 sink down on their knees and rarely roll over on to their sides. ^ 

 The flesh is said to be as good as, or better than, most Indian s 

 beef. The track is easily distinguished, as the foot has only \ 

 three toes. ^ 



There is a story of a fight having been witnessed between 

 a rhinoceros and a wild male elephant, in which the latter 

 was worsted. A rhinoceros is said to have wantonly attacked 

 the camp of two officers from Dinapore, near Derriapore, in 

 1788. The brute killed their horses, which were picketed, 

 treed the officers and their servants, and ' after keeping them in | 

 dreadful suspense for some time, and using some efforts todis- '\ 

 lodge them, seeing the sun rise, retreated to his haunt.' ; 



Their habit of depositing their dropping on the same spot, 

 which is shared by many deer and antelopes, has been noted i 

 by all writers on the subject. Native shikaris watch these 

 large heaps and take poor rhino at a disadvantage. 



XIV. THE MALAY TAPIR (7fl/z>«^;//a/«ja««j) j 



Native names : ^ Ta-ra-shu,^ Burmese ; ^ Kuda-ayer^'' Malayan : 



Sterndale says of it : | 



Habitat : Tenasserim provinces, as high as 15° N. Lat., Lower \ 

 Siam, the Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Description : jf 

 General colour glossy black, but with the back, rump, and sides of ',, 

 the belly white ; the young are beautifully variegated, being striped , 1 

 and spotted with yellow fawn on the upper parts of the body and \ 

 with white below. Mr. Mason writes : ' Though seen so rarely, , 



