328 FAMILY TAPIRID^E ; RHINOCEROS, HYDRAX. 



trable jungle ; but when brought to bay, it charges with great 

 fury and impetuosity, and tramples down, or rips up with its 

 horn, any animal that opposes it. Even the Elephant cannot 

 withstand its fury. Another species, less powerful and savage, 

 is found in Java ; and a third, which possesses two horns, in 

 Sumatra. Three species, each possessing two horns, are found 

 in Africa, of which the best known, the black, or common 

 Rhinoceros, is represented in (Fig. 164). The Rhinoceros 

 appears to have been formerly as widely distributed as the 

 Elephant and Mammoth ; and its remains are found associated 

 with theirs. Several species, differing from those at present exist- 

 ing, have been distinctly made out ; and of one of these, an entire 

 frozen carcase has been discovered, in the banks of one of the 

 tributaries of the Lena. It had two horns, but differed in many 

 respects from any two-horned species of the present day ; and its 

 skin, like that of the Mammoth, was covered with long stiff hair. 

 Remains of the Rhinoceros are found in almost every bone-cavern 

 in England, France, and Germany ; and it appears from the 

 researches of Dr. Buckland, that, during a long succession of 

 years, the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros, and Hyaena, 

 were formerly inhabitants of our island, the last-mentioned of 

 these devouring the others, or preying upon its carcase after 

 natural or accidental death. 



294. There is a curious genus of small animals, inhabiting 

 the rocky districts of Africa and Syria, which is intermediate in 

 its characters between the Tapir and Rhinoceros, but presents 

 several points of resemblance to the Rodentia. This is the 

 Daman, or Hi/rax, an active fur-covered little animal, sometimes 

 called the Rock-Rabbit, and probably the Cony referred to in the 

 Book of Proverbs. Its skeleton closely resembles that of a Rhi- 

 noceros in miniature, and its molar teeth are formed in the same 

 manner ; the fore-feet have four toes, which are tipped with hoof- 

 like nails ; whilst the hind-feet have three, of which the inner- 

 most is furnished with a long claw-like nail. The best known 

 species are the Cape Hyrax, which inhabits Southern Africa ; 

 and the Syrian Hyrax of Syria, Arabia, and Abyssinia. Both 

 these are active, wary animals, somewhat larger than Rabbits, 



