ORDER OF PACHYDERMATA. 141 



thing which is unfortunate enough to be in its road. Its pursuers 

 can avoid these formidable attacks by making digressions to the 

 right or left, for the course taken by the Rhinoceros is always 

 rectilinear, never turning out of its direction or retracing its 

 steps. 



If the Indians dare to run the risks involved in such dangerous 

 sport, it is because the skin and horn of the animal are of great 

 value. Sportsmen also find the skin of the Rhinoceros of utility : 

 it is made into leather, which is so hard that it can only be cut 

 with great difficulty by the best steel. 



The Indians like the flesh of the Rhinoceros ; but the Chinese 

 are excessively fond of it. After swallows' nests, lizards' eggs, 

 and little dogs, there is nothing to be compared, according to 

 the Chinese, to the tail of a Rhinoceros, or to a jelly made with 

 the skin from this animal's belly ! Let us add, that the Chinese 

 atti'ibute to the horn of this Pachyderm marvellous properties, 

 amongst others that of destroying the effects of the most deadly 

 poisons. The Asiatic kings, who had too often to be afraid of 

 poisoned beverages, had their drinking-cups made of the horn 

 of the Rhinoceros ; these cups were considered by them of in- 

 estimable value. 



In menageries, the Asiatic Rhinoceros is generally a gloomy, 

 but a mild and obedient animal. But sometimes the constraint in 

 which it is retained gives it fits of impatience and fury, when it 

 becomes dangerous. In its despair it has been known to dash 

 its head violently against the walls of its stable. Generally, how- 

 ever, it recognises its keeper's authority, and shows itself con- 

 scious of his presence and grateful to him for his care. 



There exists at Java a peculiar representative of the Asiatic 

 Rhinoceros. This species has only one horn. Again another 

 species, peculiar to Sumatra, has two horns. 



The African Rhinoceros was known to the ancients, for its 

 effigy is found on medals struck in the time of the Emperor 

 Domitian. It has on its nose two conical horns, inclined back- 

 wards ; the foremost horn is seventy centimetres long, the second 

 much shorter. It is a large animal ; its skin has no wrinkles, nor 

 folds, and is almost entirely bare (Fig. 36). 



This Rhinoceros inhabits Cafiraria, the Hottentot country, and 

 probably the whole of Southern Africa. It lives in the forests 



