r 54 



HABITS OF THE RHINOCEROS. 



of actual hair. At the birth of the young animal, the horn is hardly visible, and its 

 full growth is the work of years. 



As the horn is employed as a weapon of offence, and is subjected to violent concus- 

 sions, it is set upon the head in such a manner as to save the brain from the injurious 

 effects which might result from its use in attack or combat. In the first place, the 

 horn has no direct connection with the skull, as it is simply set upon the skin, and can 

 be removed by passing a sharp knife around its base, and separating it from the hide 

 on which it grows. In the second place, the bones of the face are curiously developed, 

 so as to form an arch with one end free, the horn being placed upon the crown of the 

 bony arch, so as to diminish the force of the concussion in the best imaginable manner. 

 The substance of the horn is very dense, and even when it is quite dry, it possesses 

 very great weight in proportion to its size. In former days, it was supposed to bear 

 an antipathy to poison, and to cause effervescence whenever liquid poison was poured 

 upon it. Goblets were therefore cut from this material, and when gorgeously mounted 

 in gold and precious stones, were employed by Eastern monarchs as a ready means 

 for detecting any attempt to administer a deadly drug. 



The skin of the Rhinoceros is of very great thickness and strength, bidding defiance 

 to ordinary bullets, and forcing the hunter to provide himself with balls which have 

 been hardened with tin or solder. The extreme strength of the skin is well known both 

 to the Asiatic and African natives, who manufacture it into shields and set a high 

 value on these weapons of defence. 



All the species of Rhinoceros are very tetchy in their temper, and liable to flash out 

 into anger without any provocation whatever. During these fits of rage they are dangerous 

 neighbors, and are apt to attack any moving object that may be within their reach. In 

 one well-known instance, where a Rhinoceros made a sudden dash upon a number of 

 picketed horses, and killed many of them by the strokes of his horn, the animal had 

 probably been irritated by some unknown cause, and wreaked his vengeance on the 

 nearest victims. During the season of love, the male Rhinoceros is always vicious, 

 and, like the elephant, the buffalo, and other animals in the like condition, will conceal 

 himself in some thicket, and from thence dash out upon any moving object that may 

 approach his retreat. 



Some times the Rhinoceros will commence a series of most extraordinary antics, and 

 seeming to have a spite against some particular bush, will rip it with his horn, trample 

 it with his feet, roaring and grunting all the while, and will never cease until he has 

 cut it into shreds and levelled it with the ground. He will also push the point of his 

 horn into the earth, and career along, ploughing up the ground as if a furrow had been 

 cut by some agricultural implement. In such case it seems that the animal is not 

 laboring under a fit of rage, as might be supposed, but is merely exulting in his strength, 

 and giving vent to the exuberance of health and violent physical exertion. 



The Rhinoceros is a good aquatic, and will voluntarily swim for considerable dis- 

 tances. It is very fond of haunting the river-banks and wallowing in the mud, so as 

 to case itself with a thick coat of that substance, in order to shield itself from the mos- 

 quitoes and other mordant insects which cluster about the tender places, and drive the 

 animal, thick-skinned though it may be, half mad with their constant and painful bites. 

 In Sumatra, a curious result sometimes follows from this habit of mud wallowing, as may 

 be seen from the following extract from the " Journal of the Indian Archipelago." 

 " This animal, which is of solitary habits, is found frequently in marshy places with its 

 whole body immersed in the mud, and part of the head only visible. The Malays call 

 the animal * Badak-Tapa,' or the recluse Rhinoceros. Towards the close of the rainy 

 season they are said to bury themselves in this manner in different places ; and upon 

 the dry weather setting in, and from the powerful effects of a vertical sun, the mud 

 becomes hard and crusted, and the Rhinoceros cannot effect its escape without con- 

 siderable difficulty and exertion. The Semangs prepare themselves with large quantities 

 of combustible materials with which they quietly approach the animal, who is aroused 

 from his reverie by an immense fire over him, which, being kept well supplied by the 

 Semangs with fresh fuel, soon completes his destruction, and renders him in a fit state 

 to make a meal of." 



