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 

 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 to dis- 

 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 

 by all writers on the subject. Native shikaris watch these 

 large heaps and take poor rhino at a disadvantage. 



XIV. THE MALAY TAPIR (Tapirus malayanus} 

 Native names : ' Ta-ra-shu, ' Burmese ; f Kuda-ayerJ Malayan 



Sterndale says of it : 



Habitat : Tenasserim provinces, as high as 1 5 N. Lat., Lower 

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

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

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

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

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



