THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS 
( RHINOCEROS UNICORNIS) 
T HE great Indian rhino, the species usually pursued by sports- 
men, has only one horn, and the skin is laid on, as it were, in 
plates, like jointed armour, with bosses on the quarters resem- 
bling rivets. There are at least two other Asiatic species, which 
extend from the Sunderbuns of Bengal into Burma and as far 
as Java and Sumatra. One of these, the R. sumatrensis , has 
two horns; it is smaller in size, but has more hair on the body. The 
R. unicornis inhabits the high grass and reed jungles of Assam and extends 
westward to Nepaul. The only way to hunt it is with elephants, and though 
one can occasionally descend and follow up the tunnels made by these 
huge animals through the reeds on foot, it is seldom that a shot can be got 
in this way. 
The majority of beating elephants are terrified of a rhino, and I have 
seen the line reformed again and again before the gigantic game could be 
driven out to the guns in the open. Rhinoceros frequently attack the ele- 
phants, and on these occasions seem to use their tushes in preference to 
the horn, and endeavour to rip up the belly. The horn of R. unicornis is 
not very long, but it is firmly fixed on, and I have never been able to get 
one to peel off with the skin as one can with the African species. 
The rhino is a slow breeding beast and should be well protected by the 
game laws. Comparatively few sportsmen get the opportunity of hunting 
this animal, owing to the large bandobast required; notwithstanding this 
fact, the big Indian rhinoceros might easily become extinct unless care is 
taken. 
The natives are willing to give a considerable price for the horn, which 
they make into spoons or vessels used in their religious observances. 
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