332 WILD ANIMALS. 



drawings had given me a very imperfect conception. They are 

 more bulky animals and of a darker colour than I had supposed, 

 and the thickness of the folds of their impenetrable skin much 

 surpasses all which I had expected. These at Lucknow are gentle 

 and quiet animals, except that one of them has a feud with horses. 

 They seem to propagate in captivity without reluctance, and I 

 should conceive might be available to carry burthens as well as the 

 elephant, except that, as their pace is still slower than his, their 

 use could only be appHed to very great weights, and very gentle 

 travelling. These have sometimes had howdahs on them, and 

 were once fastened to a carriage, but only as an experiment, 

 which was never followed up." 



Again,, when he was in Baroda, he saw while passing through 

 the city two very fine hunting tigers in silver chains, and a rhino- 

 ceros (the present of Lord Amherst to the Guecwar), which was 

 so tame as to be ridden by a mahout, quite as patiently as an 

 elephant. 



A specimen of the Indian rhinoceros was brought from Bengal 

 and exhibited in London in 1739, and afterwards travelled 

 throughout a great part of Europe, where it was considered an 

 extraordinary curiosity. It was only a yoixng animal, but an 

 expensive one for its owners, for it was recorded at the time that 

 the outlay for its food and voyage amounted to nearly lOOOZ. In 

 1749 a female rhinoceros was seen in Paris, and was the subject of 

 a painting by Oudri, and some engravings by other artists. The 

 menagerie at Versailles contained a rhinoceros that was kept there 

 from 1771 to 1793, and formed the subject of Buffon's notes. 



In the year 1790 a rhinoceros was presented to Mr. Dundas, it 

 having been sent from the East Indies for that purpose. Not 

 being prepared for the reception of gifts that took this form, he 

 was glad to pass it on to some one else. Subsequently Piddock 

 purchased it for 700L, and used it for exhibition purposes. When 

 not being engaged in travelling about the country for the edi- 

 fication of the gaping rustic, it was kept at Exeter Change. 



Even in captivity, and after they have been to some extent 

 tamed, all species of the rhinoceros are unsafe animals to handle. 

 Their strength being so great, their temper so uncertain, and 



