MAMMALIA—RHINOCEROS. 303 
the sty, and donot quarrel among each other, except when they happen to 
be fed in common. When enraged, they draw their breath with great 
force, and their bristles point upward; nor, on such occasions, can these be 
said so much to resemble the bristles of the wild boar as the sharp armor of 
the hedgehog. 





































Captain Waterton, who made several excursions into the forests of 
Guiana, tells us that the Macoushi Indians are accustomed to kill birds and 
other game, with arrows dipped in poison called wourali. This is made 
from a plant of that name, mixed with several other ingredients, and pre- 
pared with magical ceremonies and incantations. A large portion of the 
food of the natives consists of peccaries slain by the poisoned arrows. The 
bow is commonly used, and the animal seldom runs two hundred paces 
after being struck before he dies by the effect of the subtle poison. It is 
remarkable that the flesh of creatures killed in this manner, is perfectly 
wholesome. Besides the bow, the Indians often use a tube made of a reed 
eleven or twelve feet in length, through which the arrow is sent by the 
breath with great precision and considerable force. Birds are generally kill- 
ed in this way, and sometimes larger animals. 
fue REIN OCR OS! 
Arter the elephant, the rhinoceros is the most powerful of all quadrupeds. 
He 1s at least twelve feet in length, from the extremity of the snout to the 

1 Rhinoceros of India, Rhinoceros Indicus, Sumatra Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros Sondaicus, 
and Rhinoceros Sumatrensis, (two species.) 'Two horned Rhinoceros, Fhinoceros A fri- 
canus and Rhinoceros Camus, (two species.) The genus Rhinoceros has sometimes 
none, sometimes two, and sometimes four Bppee and the same number of lower incisors ; 
no canines; twelve or fourteen upper and the same number of lower molars. Incisors 
unequal among themselves when they exist; anterior molars small, the posterior increas- 
ing progressively ; eyes small, lateral; ears long, narrow; three toes on all the feet; one 
or two horns placed on the nose, above the nasal cavity; skin very thick, naked and 
rugous ; tail short laterally compressed. 
