state in the Assam plain, though it formerly had a wider range.
The first rhinoceros seen alive in Europe since the time when these animals, in common with nearly all the large remarkable beasts of both Africa and Asia, were exhibited in the Roman shows, was of this species. It was sent from India to Emmanuel, king of Portugal, in 1513; and from a sketch taken in Lisbon, Albert Dürer composed his celebrated but fanciful engraving, which was reproduced in so many old books on natural history. This species chiefly frequents swampy grass jungle and is fond of a mud-bath. According to General A. H. Kinloch, it is hunted by “tracking the animal on a single elephant until he is at last found in his lair, or perhaps standing quite unconscious of danger; or by beating him out of the jungle with a line of elephants, the guns being stationed at the points where he is most likely to break cover. In the latter case it is necessary to have reliable men with the beaters, who can exercise authority and keep them in order, for both mahouts and elephants have the greatest dread of the huge brute, who appears to be much more formidable than he really is.” The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is distinguished by its smaller size, and a different arrangement of the skin-folds (as may be seen by comparing figs. 1 and 2). The horn in the female is little developed, if not altogether absent. This species has a more extensive geographical range than the last, being found in the Bengal Sundarbans near Calcutta, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. The colour is uniform dusky grey. A female obtained in the Sundarbans stood 5 ft. 6 in. high. This species is more an inhabitant of tree-forest than of grass jungle, and its usual habitat appears to be in hilly countries.
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Fig. 1.—Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). This and the following illustrations are reduced from drawings by J. Wolf, from animals in the London Zoological Society's Gardens. |
Fig. 2.—Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus).
In the second section there is a well-developed nasal, and a small frontal horn separated by an interval. The skin is thrown into folds, but these are not strongly marked, and lower tusks are present. This group or genus is represented at the present day only by the Sumatran rhinoceros, Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus) sumatrensis, with its sub-species. It is the smallest of all the species, and its geographical range is nearly the same as that of the Javan species, though not extending into Java; it has been found in Assam, Chittagong, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The colour varies from earthy brown to blackish, and the greater part of the body is thinly covered with hair, and the ears and tail are fringed. The average height of adults is from 4 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in. This species inhabits forests, and ascends hills to considerable elevations; it is shy and timid, but easily tamed even when adult. A specimen from Chittagong acquired in 1872 by the Zoological Society of London was named R. lasiotis, as it differed from the typical form by its larger size, paler and browner colour, smoother skin, longer, finer and redder hair, and the long fringe of hair on the ears. It is now recognized as a local race.
Fig. 3.—Black or common African Rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros (Diceros) bicornis).
To the third group or genus (Diceros) belong the two African rhinoceroses, which have two horns, the skin without definite folds, and no lower tusks. The black rhinoceros (Rhinoceros (Diceros) bicornis) is the smaller of the two, and has a pointed prehensile upper lip. It ranges through the wooded and watered districts of Africa, from Abyssinia in the north to the Cape Colony, but its numbers are yearly diminishing, owing to the opening up of the country. It feeds exclusively on leaves and branches of bushes and small trees, and chiefly frequents the sides of wood-clad rugged hills. Specimens in which the posterior horn has attained a length as great as or greater than the anterior have been separated under the name of R. keitloa, but the characters of these appendages are too variable for specific distinctions. The black rhinoceros is more rarely seen in menageries in Europe than either of the Asiatic species, but one lived in the gardens of the London Zoological Society from 1868-1891.
Lastly we have the white—Burchell's, or square-mouthed—rhinoceros (Rhinoceros (Diceros) simus), the largest of the five, and differing from the other species in having a square truncated upper lip. In conformity with the structure of the mouth, this species lives entirely by browsing on grass, and is therefore more partial to open countries or districts where there are broad grassy valleys between the tracts of bush. In its old haunts in
