THE RHINOCEROS. 467 



its most impenetrable thickets, and the most terrible thorns are power- 

 less. Hence we find them in great numbers in the forest iands, from the 

 shore up to the height often thousand feet above the sea. Some species 

 seem to prefer the elevations. The Java Rhinoceros is more numerous 

 in the hills where many grassy pools and swamps are scattered ; the 

 African Rhinoceros, which lives in the prickly mimosa thickets of Cen- 

 tral Africa, is not rare in West Abyssinia at seven thousand feet above 

 the sea. Water is indispensable ; every day the huge animal rolls him- 

 self in the mud ; for in spite of its thick hide, it is very sensitive to the 

 attacks of insects, against whose stings nothing but a good coating ot 

 mud can protect it. Plunging into the soft mud, they lie and grunt for 

 pleasure. When the coating of mud dries and falls off, the Rhinoceros 

 seeks to get temporary relief from his insect pests by rubbing himself 

 against the trunks of the trees. 



The Rhinoceroses are more active by night than by day ; they dis- 

 like great heat, and sleep during the noontide in some shady spot. 

 They sleep very deeply, and are easy to approach when they are thus 

 buried in repose. Gordon dimming reports that even the little birds, 

 which always accompany the Rhinoceros, and warn him of danger w r hen 

 sleeping, in vain endeavored to awaken one which he was preparing to 

 shoot. Some Hottentots, led by the creature's loud snores to its sleeping- 

 place, put their guns close to his head and fired ; the sleeper never 

 stirred ; they loaded again, and killed it at the next discharge. About 

 midnight the Rhinoceros takes a mud-bath, and goes to his feeding- 

 grounds, where he lingers for hours. Afterward, he roams wherever 

 he pleases ; he passes through the bush and jungle, never changing his 

 course except to avoid the larger trunks, and in India he forms long, 

 straight paths, where all the shrubs at the sides are broken down, and 

 the ground trodden hard ; the elephant, on the contrary, pulls up by the 

 roots the brush that stands in his way. These paths always lead to 

 water, and would be very useful to the traveler if he could be sure of not 

 meeting: their constructor. 



As regards food, the Rhinoceros is to the Elephant what the Ass is to 

 the Horse. He loves hard fodder, thistles, reeds, prairie grass, and the 

 like. In Africa it eats the prickly mimosa, especially a low, bushy variety 

 which, on account of its crooked thorns, has been called the " Wait-a-bit 

 thorn." During the rainy season, the Rhinoceros approaches nearer to 

 the cultivated land, and does incalculable damage to the farmers, for his 



