ORDER OF PACHYDERMATA. 153 



female of the Two-horned Asiatic Rhinoceros become very 

 speedily tame and tractable. We hare reason to believe that 

 the Rhinoceroses mentioned by Du Halse as inhabiting the pro- 

 vince of Quang-si, in the south-east of China, are of this small 

 two-horned species. 



So long ago as in 1838, the late Dr. Heifer remarked that the 

 Tenasterian provinces (now constituting the southern portion of 

 British Burmah) " seem to be a convenient place for this genus ; 

 for I dare to pronounce almost positively," he then wrote, " that 

 the three known Asiatic species occur within their range. The 

 B. indicus being found in the northern part of these provinces, 

 in that high range bordering on Zimmay, called the ' Elephant- 

 tail ' Mountain ; the R. sondaicus, on the contrary, occupies the 

 southernmost part ; while the two-horned S. sumatmnus is to be 

 found throughout the extent of the territories from the 17th to 

 the 10th degree of north latitude. In character the R. sondaicus 

 seems to be the mildest, and can be easily domesticated (tamed), 

 the powerful Indian Rhinoceros is the shyest, and the double- 

 horned the wildest."* Mason (in 1850, in his work entitled, 

 Burmah) remarked that " the common Single-horned Rhinoceros 

 is very abimdant. The Double-horned is not uncommon in the 

 southern provinces ; " and then he alludes to the alleged fire-eater 

 of the Burmans, supposing that to be R. sondaicus, as distinguished 

 from the common single-horned kind, which he thought was 

 R indicus. " The fire-eating Rhinoceros," he tells us, " is so called 

 from its attacking the night fires of travellers, scattering the 

 burning embers, and doing other mischief, being attracted by 

 unusual noises, instead of fleeing from them as most wild animals 

 do." Now Professor Oldham's camp-fire was attacked by a 

 Rhinoceros, which he fired at with a two-oimce ball ; and three 

 days afterwards the bodj^ was found, and proved to be of the Two- 

 horned species. The skull of that individual is now in the 

 museimi of Trinity College, Dublin. The commonest of the 

 African Rhinoceroses has been known to manifest the same pro- 

 pensity, and so has even the ordinary American Tapir ; but we 

 have never heard of the Malabar Tapir doing so, and the range 

 of that animal extends into the more southern of the Tenasterian 

 provinces. In general, however, the Asiatic Two-horned Rhino- 



* Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. vii. p. 861. 



