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 Chinesp, 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 
attribute 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 Caffraria, the Hottentot country, and 
probably the whole of Southern Africa. It lives in the forests 
