THE COMMON INDIAN RHINOCEROS. 41/ 



male specimen from the captain of an East India vessel, for the 

 sum of one thousand guineas. It is supposed to be about eight 

 years old, and, of course, not full grown, although when mea- 

 sured, on May 3rd, 1837, it was eleven feet seven inches in 

 length from the snout to the root of the tail. 



His ordinary pace consists in a slow, sluggish walk, but 

 during his sportive moments he proceeds round his paddock 

 or den, at a heavy lumbering gallop with headlong preci- 

 pitancy, the nose almost touching the ground, and playfully 

 ploughing up the straw or gravel as he proceeds. It is in this 

 position that the animal in a state of nature would rush upon 

 his antagonist, striking an upward blow with his formidable 

 horn. His senses are acute, especially those of hearing and 

 smell. He is almost constantly turning his ears in different 

 directions, as if intent to catch the various sounds around him. 

 He scents the buns or bread with which the visitors feed the 

 elephant in the next paddock, and approaches the bars to solicit 

 a share, gazing intently and expressively at them, while he 

 stretches out his upper lip to receive them. He recognises his 

 keeper's voice, and playfully follows him as he passes before 

 the den, as if begging for food or courting his notice. While the 

 keeper, bringing his meal to him, is yet at a distance, he is 

 still aware of his approach, and testifies his satisfaction by a 

 short inward grunt, similar to that which he utters when about 

 to repose. When excited, however, he frequently utters a 

 neighing sort of sound, which, though not very loud, is shrill 

 and piercing. His daily diet at present consists of twenty- 

 eight pounds of clover, the same quantity of meadow hay, five 

 pounds of potatoes, three pecks of boiled bran, and eight 

 pounds of boiled rice, the two latter articles being mixed up 

 with three-quarters of a pound of salt. Of water he drinks 

 daily fourteen gallons. " In summer, he is permitted to enjoy 

 a plunge in the large bath, constructed in the elephant's paddock, 

 and it is interesting to watch his gambols. He runs to and 

 fro, ploughing the mud with his snout -, then he plunges into the 

 bath, runs out, and again plunges in, and often remains for a 



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