#4 The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book I 
moR In the Ifle of Java, as alfo in the Kingdoms of Ben- 
gala and Bat ala. There is fcarce any Creature more fre- 
quently mentioned by antient Writers, than this ^ and yet 
there^ are very few that have been fo imperfedtly defcribed. 
I fhajl pafs by the Sentiments of fome learned Men, who 
conceive this to be the Unicorn of the Scriptures a : I fay, 
I final! pais them by, becaufe 1 do not fee how the Queftion 
can ever be decided ; only thus much feems to be certain, 
that the Unicorn is there mentioned for his Strength, and 
for his Strength’s lying in his Horn, which is exactly true 
of the Rhinoceros. Pliny b , who is fo fond of Wenders, 
and fo copious in his Recital of moil of them, is very fhort 
in his Defcription of this Animal, not having vouchfafed 
us as many Lines upon the Subject', as he has written 
Chapters upon the Elephant. All he tells us of it, amounts 
to tms, that Pompey , in his Shews, exhibited, among 
other ftrange Bealls, a Rhinoceros, with one Horn, and 
no more, and that in his Snout. This, continues he, is by 
Nature a dreadful Enemy to the Elephant ; and, by rub- 
bing his Horn againft hard Stones, makes it fo very fharp, 
that he is able to pierce with it the Belly of that Creature ; 
at which Part he aims, becaufe it is tenderer than the reft. 
In point of Defcription, he tells us, that he is full as long 
as the Elephant, but that his Legs are ftiorter, and his 
Skin of the Colour of Box. Milan , who infills fo largely 
upon other Animals, that are very common, did not think 
it neceffary to delcribe the Rhinoceros, becaufe all the 
World had feen it at B^ome, in the Shews given by the 
Emperors, for the Amufement of the People. Strabo is 
as 2 fhort in his Defcription as Pliny \ though he tells us, 
that he had feen this Creature at Alexandria , and cites Ar- 
temi dor us on the fame Subject. Dion CaJJius contents him- 
felf with o'bferv ng, that this Animal had never been feen 
at Rome before the Triumph of Augujlus d , in which he 
contradicts Pliny. 
It would be to no purpofe to colleCt a greater Number of 
Citations, unlefs we could meet with fome that were larger 
and fuller in the Defcription of this Animal ; and, there- 
fore, it is neceffary, in order to give the Reader a to- 
lerable Idea of it, to have recourfe to the Modems. 
Bontius 8 has defcribed it in his excellent Work, and fo has 
Father Le Comte f *, and, as they agree perfedtly well, I 
fhall only relate what we are told by the latter. The Rhi- 
noceros, fays he, is one of the moll extraordinary Ani- 
mals in the World : He feems to me to refemble, in many 
Refpedls, the wild Boar, except, that he is much bigger, 
has fhorter Legs, and a heavier Body. His Skin is in- 
tirely covered with large and thick Scales of a dark Colour, 
and exceffively hard. They am divided into little Squares 
or Buttons, which arife fomewhat above the Skin, in a 
manner not much unlike thofe of the Crocodile. It is by 
this means that its Legs feem to be. inclofed in a kind of 
Boots, and its Head wrapped up behind, in a fort of 
Hood, or Capuchin ; for which Reafon, the Portuguefe call 
this Creature the Monk of the Indies. Its Head is very 
large, but its Mouth is not very big its Snout long, and 
armed with a large Horn, which renders it extremely ter- 
rible even to Tygers, Buffaloes, and Elephants. But what 
feems to be the moll moll wonderful in this Animal, is its 
Tongue, which Nature has covered with a Membrane fo 
tough and ftrong, that, in Effedl, it differs nothing from 
a File, fo that he tears his Prey to pieces barely by licking it. 
As we fee fome Animals that delight in feeding on 
Thiftles, the little Points of which, by pricking the Ex- 
tremities of the Nerves in their Tongues, afford them an 
agreeable Serffation, fo the Rhinoceros feeds with greateft 
Pleafure on the Branches of fuch Trees as are thick-fet 
with the tougheft and ftrongeft Thoms. I have myfelf 
often given this Creature Twigs of fuch Trees as were 
thick-let with Briars that were exceedingly fharp and 
ftrong •, and have been amazed to fee how greedily, and 
with what Acldrefs, he chewed and fed upon them, with- 
out being at all incommoded by their Points. It is true, 
that fometimes his Mouth is a little bloody, but that ferves 
only to render the Tafte of his Food more agreeable •, and 
has apparently no other Effedl on his Tongue, or Tafte, 
than Salt and Pepper on ours. Some other Authors add 
to this Defcription, that he has under his fore Legs a kind 
of very ugly loofe Skin, that hangs down over his Belly 
of a i exture hot unlike that of the Wings of a Bat ; which’ 
altogether, mull render this Creature equally lingular and 
difagreeable. 
i The ingenious Mr. Kolben s , in his excellent Account of 
the Cape of Good Ilope^ has given us a Hill more accurate 
Defd iption of the Rhinoceros ; and, indeed, by com par in. o - 
it with all that I have met with on this Subjedl, I am 
throughly fatisfied, that it is more clear, more diftinct, 
and more agreeable to Truth, becaufe the Author feems 
to have had more Attention* and lefs Quilt neft of Fancy, 
than other Writers. Its Skin, fays he, is without Hair’ 
or other Covering ; but is of itfelf fo hick and hard, that 
even the moft lharp pointed Knife will hardly pierce in 
Painters generally reprefent this Creature with Scales, but 
it has really nothing of that kind. Its Skin indeed is fo 
full of Scratches and Scabs, that, at aDiftance, they may 
be very well taken for Scales, efpecially as they frequently 
run over and acrofs each other. His Nofe, or Snout, is 
not unlike that of an Hog ; on the End of which, he has an 
Horn of a dark-brown Colour, which, without doubt, 
by the continual Ufe he makes of it, is bent back towards 
his Head, fo that it in fome meafure refembles a Plough- 
fhare. This Horn is of very different Sizes, according 
to the Age of the Animal ; but, in Length, never exceeds 
two Feet. It has another Horn a little above the large 
one, towards the Front of its Head, which is of a yellow 
Colour, but fmall in a young Rhinoceros, and in an old 
one, does not exceed fix Inches at the moft. In its Figure, 
it refembles a Bowl cut in half ; the Cavity is turned to- 
wards the Head : This leffer Horn hinders the larger one 
from doing all the Mifchief that it otherwife might : Its 
Ears are lefs, and its Limbs ftiorter than thofe of the Ele- 
phant : Its Eyes are exceedingly fmall, and it only fees 
ftrait forward ; which is the Reafon' that when it runs or 
purfues its Prey, it is always in a ftrait Line, forcing, tear- 
ing, and throwing up, whatever it meeis with in its Paf- 
fage, fo that neither Bufh, Tree, Thicket, or large Stones, 
ever oblige it to quit its Path. With the Horn upon his 
Nofe, he tears up Trees by the Roots, throws Stones that 
lie in his W ay over his Head, to a great Diftance, and 
with a prodigious Noife. When he meets with nothing 
to obftrubl him, and is in a Rage, he will make great Ruts 
in the Ground, and throw, from time to time, large Quan- 
tities of Earth over his Head. His Grunt is very much 
like that of an Hog, and not very loud, if he is not angry ; 
but, if he is in Purfuit of his Prey, he makes fuch a ter- 
rible Noife, as may be heard at a great Diftance ; and, as 
he is very dreadful to all Kinds of Beafts, they fly at the 
Sound of it in the utmoft Terror. 
9 . The principal Food of the Rhinoceros, are Bullies, 
Shrubs, Boughs of Trees, and other things of the fame 
Nature : For tho 3 * 5 this Creature be a Beall of Prey, and 
one of the moft terrible in this Part of the World, yet it 
is both able to fubfift, and does fubfift, for a great while 
together, without feeding on Fleftri. What the Antients 
report, of the Rhinoceros having a natural Antipathy to 
the Elephant, is ftridlly true *, and they never meet in the 
Woods, but it is fatal to the latter, if it does not fee the 
Rhinoceros time enough to make its Efcape •, for the Ele- 
phant places all its Safety in Flight ; and, "if once attacked, 
is fcarce able to make any Defence through Fear b It is 
very feldom that the Rhinoceros attacks a Man, and hardly 
ever, unlefs he happens to be dreffed in Red ; a Colour to 
which he has a mortal Averfion. When he comes up with 
the Man whom he purfues, he lifts him by the Twill on 
his Horn, and throws him diredtly over his Head with 
fuch Force, that he never fails of finding him dead when 
he comes to devour him, which he does by licking all the 
Flefh from the Bones, with his Tongue, in the fame man- 
ner that he deftroys other Animals. But, however furious, 
and however fwift, this terrible Creature may be, yet it is 
3 Numbers xxiii. 22. God brought them oat of Egypt : He hath, as it were, the Strength of an Unicorn. b Lib. viii. cap, 20. 
e Lib . xvi, p. 774. d Lib. li. p. 460. ' e Medicam. Indor. lib. xvi. f Memoires de la Chine . g Defcription da 
Cap de la bonne Efperancefp. iii, c. 2. h 'Jonfton. Lheat, Animal. lom. ii. p. 66. 1 Mandeljlo, Voiage aux Indes, p. 3,6. 
far 
