...._I.._." -.- -- VOL. I f .

.+- .. + _C--- ...-

,,

I I

TIIf3 ODD-TQ13f) UNG UI,ATISS. 44 < .

The Malayan or Shabrack Tapir, thc Maiba / hindcr 1,:u-t. which is of a dirty-white colour, *'' i of the r~atives(ir@i~~isi~m'icr,s~~ii~tC('~y~~~t~ts)), fig. i and n~akcs it :ippc;xr as if the whole of the

147, is distinguished from the Dcizilinn only by I body from the shoulclers to the root of the :;

its rather shorter proboscis tlnttened under- tail and the toll of their thighs were covered noath, by tttw less ;~brup t profile of the head, , with :I sh:ll~racl< or horsc-cloth fiistened undcr *'

by the :rbscllce of tllc mane, ancl by the. the belly. ?'his rare species, foulld chiefly colour and markings of the sliin. The whole / on tltc Alalay I'rninsula ancl the island of

-, 1 <

body is very dnk with thc excel.)tinn of the Sunlarra, was first nlarle known ,to science in $;;:I 3 )

Fig. ~jjr.--'ll$c h I a i a y u 'l'apir (Tupi~ui tndi~rs] .

to Europe, but they h a l e not lived long.

Tapir (T . Rc3nlilrii or a i h z r s ) , Ilas a still more sloping forehead than the previous one, very

.,;.$$$

'The structure of the 11osc causcs the skull to r.Agsk$ -,;E 6; ;.;

resemble that qf the following family. i:.fF ) - thick and dense hair, quite black, wit11 an

indistinct whitish patch on the lips. 1Jy this development of a ~voolly covcring the species has adapted itsclf to a life in the high valleys of [lie Cordilleras at n height of I o,ooo feet and more, where sevcrc winters prevail.

i7inally Baird's Tapir (El~s1?t0~~7tathzts ( Ijpirns) B~~i~*i.iii), of a uniform dark Lrowr~, with white lips and without a inane, has only recently been discovered in Guntenraln and

, , C - < +l,- F , : .$.-

, .* v .a., ?.A- * , ,>. THE RHIXOCEKOS FAMILY ;gdP ( S A S ~ C O R N I A ~ ~ + < y:*< y 6 ~ z ;

-$$4; .;<v

A t the present day this fanlily consists ~ f . - ~ , i j @ j ~ ,;F only ;I single genus, lihinoceros, within which SIJ botdiilate groups have been formed in

,>S g,' p f i c - accordance with the degree of persistence in -g> : - , * .> 5̂ -;:y:

the incisors, thc ilresence or absence of a ':., second horn, or even the greater or less thick- .'

or1 thc isthmus of l'anama. Tlris tapir is distinguished in a very n~arkcd 111an11cr from

ness of tllc hide. . . ;:, , L v,,

All rhinoceroses arc: huge, heavy, clumsy t;-.,

. : - .. - 7

;< , 'L;

$ < c<

3 !;gz ; 3$3$,?

,-,&;':2+:: <f> : * : , , , ,::g>: 4%

,< d' 5 3

46 THE O I ~ l ~ - ? ' O l ~ F > UXGULXTES.

i.idg(:s on tlie boncs of thc liml)s, :uld cslxci- I es11il)it two sickle-sh;il)cd 1,odit:s surroundeci ni!y the thin1 trocha~~tcr on the thigh, arc i by eatllucl, th~:sc: l~odies standing obliquely 1 ~ - enornlous; even thc ribs have oblicjuc inicidle ridges tllroughout thcir eritire lcngth. . . I hc dcntitioll is charactt:rizecl by the want of collstancy in the frorit tccth, ancl the peculiar fonn of the enamel folrls in the cheek-teeth. The canines are a1 w;iys wniit- ing, so that a coi~siderable ilitenal scpr~ratcs the cheek-teeth frorn the incisors, wllich were origin:illy (in fossil fornm) four or cvetl six in number both ,ibovc arid below. The rhinoceroses of the present day have at first

two incisors in each hidf of the jaw, but their subsequcn t clcve1ol)mcn t varies grcc~tl y. In the u p ~ e r jaw the iricisors are very close-set: the outer pair arc the smaller ancl first dis- apl)ear. I n the lowcr jaw the iricisors are cotlical, :ilmost horizontal, arid tlircctetl for- warcls ; the otiter orlcs are ofrerl vc:ry strung. and ill some fossil sliccics devclo1)ctl alnlost in the form of tusks. 7'11cy persist the longest: whilc thc inner ones drop out mrly, although ;~lr~~ays subsequently t o the shedding of thc outcr incisors of the upper jaw. At last all the iilcisors disappear and are never rcplacetl. \VC thus have species in which therc arc only two illcisors above allcl four below ; others in which only two incisors are found below in the adult ; and others again in \vliich thcy are latterly altogether ~v:~ri t ing, anrl in which the callous margins of the gum serve to rout 91) plants. 111 the young animal the various stages

hind one nnothcr and having their convexity behi~ul,

ilmong the intcrnal parts of ihc organization wc may takc [tote of the rcl:iti\~ly small sitlll)ie stomach, the enormous c o i c ~ ~ and cxcu 111, the sn~all brain, thc two - horned uterus, the tkvu in placenta., The

young unc, ishicl1 i with fury. 'I'hc horn whcn the young an in a~gc ; rhc new-

swcllirly on thc the hori~lcss arice cerosrs (i;\ceratl~eriun

'1'11~ habits of th b u t powerful :m the samc. They ;l but while ~nost of t

the jungle. and the 1):mks of rivers ;~llr l l>onds whcrc they can M' ;L~~OL

A fricarl speci cs (.Rh. pr~fercnce for thc s t

grasses. But in yrrler: water :tnd mud if i t is for nothing else than . - to dcfend thcmselvcs against tllc insects which . - tor~ncllt them in spite of the thickness of .,..

<', ',l: <

thrir hide. T h e s e giants have no enemy to . 5 ;j,

fear cscept man. Idions and tigers go out ,.:: of thrir way, for their horns ancl feet are

of this gradiial rccluction can be observed. tcrril,lc weapons, and whcl~ once a rhino- .:: / j

The cheek-teeth nrc seven it1 nl~rnbcr in each ceros 11;is brukc~i out into fury nothing can p,

half of each jaw, i r ~ all twenty-eight, but they I withstand the violcnce of his otlslaughts. '" f * 4

arc very diverse i n their nature. The ripper \i7ith bead doivn he darts upon his enemy, o ~ i r s are much 1:lrgcr than the lowcr: They throws him to the ground, and tranlplcs hi111 have two irregular tr:insverse prominenccj, which itre sep,watcd on the insidc 1.y x deep

under his feet. \VC have h e a d of battles 'I bctwecn elephants ancl rhinoceroscs, but no

willdii~g lissurc, but on the outsi~le arc con- nectccl by a longitudilial fold. IVhcn the tooill has been worn down to some rstttnt thesc pro- minences seen3 to ljc surroundc~l Ly a con-

rcccnt observer has cvr r witnessed one. But it al~perirs that thcsc two giants of the forest shun one another, although in (luaternxy tirncs the ll~aiilnloth and tllc rhinoceros with

tinuous ~[~riously-twisted strip of cnamrl, Thc I bony nasal se1)tum manifestly livccl together loivcr chct:k-teeth arc longer ihau I~roi~cl, md as ~~cr~ceabie ticighbours.

T1-11' ICITTNOCEROS F A ~ I ' I x , ~ . 47

The rl~inoccroscs have R C U ~ C scnsc I (.ronn'nirfi.r) ) is onl.-llornct~ like the prrcc<li,lg of 11cnri ng- n kccn seen t. *lq hcy nvoitl 1 spccics ; ~rhilf: tly;lt of ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ~ t ~ ~ (/<h4 man ~ h c o tllc)* hilt-e crvnc: to k ~ l o w his power, rirtsis), ill14 another from >fdnccn, tufts

and in hunting these animals it is i,c:ccss;lry of hair 011 the cars (/<h. lns;otisl), haVC t,vo to ol~ser\r& cnrcf'~~!ly thc tlircction of kllc \vim1 hol-!is ;~r lc i forlil the tmllsition to t]lc ljfric:lll micl to l>_rocec(l w i t h a ~ ~ t noise, Ijut when mc; uncsfiect(:tfly or ~lri\-c:ll intu n c o n y - thc ~ f r i i a n Rhinoceroses have ;l]] tlVo

3 , ' *+rhinoceros I K ~ C O I I I ~ S terriljl~', and \rroe 'to the nd o tl,illnrr llicle fornling folds . . sportsn~nn who misscs his aim ! I n t h c forcsis C S . I heir incisors out.

\irhich they inhabit they mnkc paths for them- I Tllc Two-horned Rhinoceros (AA. bicontis), ,

! S thro~igll t he dcll%t%t unt~cr\vuo(l I . X . , S qui te as large :is tile inclinn treading t~owl~ everything i l l thcir \v:i)*, nnil s~,ccics. I,llt [hc hencl is shorter and carries

' ~lthorig11 the h11iltcl.s 111;1hc usc OC these 1,ntils tnrt.o tlorns, tIlc foremost of w ~ ~ i c l l is the long-

- I < .

I :: . ., they ncvcrtllc:ltrr;s c.ircfully avoill ~necting i cst. rl't~c llidr has n darl;-[lrc~wn

T * \vith ~llcsa stupid ancl 1)nssion;itc. animals. inclitling to 1~l:~ck. I he nniln:ll formerly i

L .

' J i.t%l r~i: c ;~~) t iv i t~- thc rhi~~occroscs arc slugfiisb. inlln bitcd tl ,c \vholc of thc rn:li:lland of Africa ' S - ?.

?:?{A$ ; " p

, ~.. ~ ; t i ~ ~ t e l l i ~ c n t , a1151 unsoci:~l. I'hcy can scarccl y down to the Cal~c, 1x1 t has 1)ccil north- ,, ; ' % .

""l>t: -- rc~ntlcrcd att:lchcd to their kcopcrs, rsho wards to\t.:~rrls the interior by ttlc colonists &c obligecl tcr I~chnvc y i t h grc:lt cnutiol~

< l*, : : <

t$+arcls thcm. They astonish but do not nkract visitors.

'fhc rh~nocct.oses inay br: ~ITvi~lc~l into tivo :I -

on nccol~llt of thc mvages it committctl in thcir plnntetions. I t is rqarded ils much inore srupicl ;tnrl much u,iIder than t l~c Inclinn

specics. l'hc hide has only small folds. gryu ps. 1 [The Hon. 11::. 14. Drummond, author of Tlf Tllc Asiatic Rhinoceroses have pern1:i:icll t i . Large ( ; n ) 1 ~ ~f S~)t th mid Snirth-ensi Afl-im, speaks ~ncisors, and nr~llour-platcs on thc l~itle scpe- 1 on scvcral occasions of thc ferocity of Rh. hicontis, :tAtcd by deep folds. They h : ~ c son1ctitllas [,wilich he :hc dallgemus of all one, somctirnes two horns. 1 African game. This ferocity, ho\se\~cr, is exhibited

i n a full-page il~ustrntion (PI. S I X . ) is ' only to\r~ards man, nod witkoot doubt thcrc is

shoivn a onc-horrled spcics lanown fro111 time

ifnmcnlori;l], tjlc Ind ian Rhinoceros (]?h. iltdigZtS), ty\.hich is distrit,uted over the regioll

:; ;,; frolll ilcl,g2:al to Cochin-China. I t att:tins :L

, length of 13 a11d ;. height of' 6% feet. The "' . - *

, 'i nlore than n foot :~nd a hall long, is c ,

good reason h r its manifcstaiiotl. " Their cun-

ning," he rvriics, "is oflly cq~lallcd by their vicious- ""& 1"o"'. if llol in all cases, tllcy r ~ i l l a t oncc chargc on getting the tvi~l t l of a human being, and if they crass his track tllcy wil! oftcn foflow it tip

llkc n dog, making none of tflc puffing sounds to tllcm \{*lren angry, till they - I 8 . ! : i k l, vcirred hackwards and is rather slen(ler: tile

upper lip is very large. 11 has the most

complete armour of all. One plate covers

I , ,it.e ,' hacl; of (hc ncc.-, otllcr the s]loult[cr, ;l

third belly, a fourth the rump, 2 fifil, the thigh. Tllc llidc is of a dirty-gray colour. Pompey causcd thc first specirnell which was

ever seen in Europe LO 1 ) ~ l3rougllt to Rome in thc ).car 61 DSc. I t is eagerly pllrsucd on account of rhc tremendous ravages it commits in plnntatior~s. A m o n g the other castern

him. l13Rcn ~~oundcd, and occasionally ~ r l ~ c n much disturbed, their spwr consists of parallcl

straight lincs, so that i t is nest to impossible to ~vcrtake them ntithout bcing discovcrcd, and giving the'" an o ~ ~ o r t u l ' i t ~ of ch'lrgnfi You lrnm One

a lcncc side They will wait \sit11 the utmost p t' conccnlcd in thick jungfc, trntil you nImost touch thcrn, and thcn rush nut at you. When they do ,tch unfortunate hing, they knock him down and knead 11im wit11 thcir fcet, returning again and again until no th ing but a shaplcsq mass relnnins,

1 1 This i s r ver). nre nnirnnl. Only lrvo ermlp1,ln arc raid in i r i r species the Javan Rhinoceros ((\'h. ~ae'nnrczts known. ~ e c 4 ~ c ~ , ~ VG,]. xxix. p. 421.--*1'~.

all the day their shrill squeal of rage / deal with; and I having got a

This I orlcc saw myself. 1 we mcnt back to tllc spot unti

L( Four of consisting of myself, three native / brute, still tran~pli~lg and squcali~ hunter% and my gun-bcarcr, \\ere on our way to d o ~ t ~ ~ . 11% fired a t it togcthcr.

join a native hunting-party some twclvc miles off, " >Ig nerves hacl bee11 SO mu^

and just after cro&rlg n small strcam about balf- unstc~idy and missccl cl wa). we sGxtv a flock of rhinoceros-birds hovering but the ball from my c oxTer an uknku thicket, :tt)d cviclcntly accornpaiiy- gull spcd more truiyJ ing sonlc ganlc passing through it. 'Tl~c place ~ ~ a s knccs, where, by dint o of no grcat size, so t\vo of thc hunters rail round airncd shots, I succecdc to t t~c further sides, while I a11d the remaining rcloadcd, when rve finis1 one went into it, and in a fc\v sccoilds strt~ck tllc I n illu.stration of the spoor of an ~ ~ ) c t ~ a l r c . ~ I arri thankiu.1 non- to animal ollc instance is r recollect that I at u~lcc suggested leaving the sequences arc little rlro vicious brutc alone, partly hccausc it was sue11 though disngrccablc enou dangerous work and its death ~voulcl do u s n o of the occurrence. A srn good, partly on account of the timc it ~ \ . o ~ ~ l d waste which nIr. I>rt~rnn~ond ~ v a and thc distaace we hat1 yet to go. Horvcver, the roasting an antclopc, the hunter walltcd to go aftcr it, and to have said &).'S work, for their eve] more would have implied fcnr O I ~ part, a t l~it~g hour the first sliouldcr one has to guard against when, being the only brought it to nlc white man among nativcs far in the interior, o~it's means of thc stick \I-l~ich comfort, and not impossibly one's life, depends 1 porting it ~vhile roastilv

i upor1 one's prestige; and so wc went on, and in i ing-lcnifc, and shnrpcn~l scxrccly five rninutes I saw it, having nlrcadg 1 just in the act of trren heard it snorting likc a steam-cnginc, trotting time that daj; wl~cn I 1 alo~lg, tossing i t s head, and looki~~g like rrliscfiicf of puKs, like a train jus pcrsonifccl, liaving evidently got the wind of some tinguish the heavy of us, and being quitc as anxious to find us as we second cvcryborly 1

it. I t was i~bout fiitccn yards OK, and 1 instantly 1t.c \tfcrc all scr;x~il let drive wit11 both barrels illto its slrouldcr, spring- to say, still hoIdi ing as I did so into thc tree ur~dcr which I was. and oblivious of

" hIy w~lucky campanian, lvtio was a little distance do\rrn bclon.. IVc were on one Ade, ancl had hithcrto only hcard it, camc the rhinoceros ha running towards thc shots, and absolutely met it it must h a w cau face to face; hc at orice fired and turned to run, to go very high, and I was so but it was too late, ant1 he was caught 01.1 thc spot, movements. IIardlg tell thrown up with a single toss, which must probably since I had 11card tllc firs have s tu~~ncd him, anti was then trampled out of our fire was scattcrcd il l

all senlbla~lcc to humanity by the bloodthirsty vicious animal was stnm brute. Any description would be sickening. I thing clse it saw, allcl could do nathing, for my gun-bcarer 11ad disap- )\.hole time. Tllc pcarcd, seeking safety in sorrle other spot, and I it trnmpld into t found that I had not a single ccarlridgc left in the away by its feet; little pouch I carried; but after a minute I muld l1.ood 117cr~ snloking on stand thc inaction no longer, and getting doxn bed, and even ironl wl from the tree unperccivcd I stole away, and as smoulc-cring blankets; =on as I was out of reach llcgan to sllout to the calabas]l jrcrc lying in

bearer and n hunter, otic of them Ilavin;: hitldcn not so far touched, \\'as rno himself 011 finding the sort of anirnal nre had to It was enough to tr). any

Native (tiafiir) nnnic of the Rb. bi;or~~is. asked the man next mc if his

49

of wolution in course of which there ~1 forms which flad feet ]:Lc the

characters of the I'crissotl:styl:, are with SO ~ n i ~ c h cleilrness distinct-

hf i t is irnpnssil)le to -rign grciltcr to the cquinr. type than that of a fanlily.

horse is the last menlbcr i j , a series of a prof'css of

tendency t o transfom1 mnn y- toed :ktircly sluggisil, he:lvily -built

not, I~oivc\w-, irnpr.ovc.d anilllals into runners, which do not in flcetncss to any othcr forms. The feet are

this process to the highest re ~nodificd so ns to 11c adapted

point which it has becn our constant aitn to pecks (Rh. si'tzt~s) is the maintain in this work with respect to the

ead is very lo~~g, thc evolution theory, we must regard thc Solid- : ~ t of :In ox, the front 1 ungul:~ as tllc type of ;r highly-spccialixed

rd and more in lrngth, family. \v the gcncral ch:v:icters of the and asses which n ~ a k c up this grtxtly-clongatecl head with nr~d sharp - pointed ears, the relatively short body borne

tanding its sutlerior size, on long slender I c ~ s , the f ~ ~ t ending in

ost good-naturctl of all. rounded hoofs, the tail of moderate Icn@h

r itr [ierhl jVhich alrp,;,rs 1 bearing a long bmih ~ 0 m p o ~ e d of Coarse hair, the manc of bristly hair on the neck, the covering of finer shor t hair on the body lying very thick but so closer.ly al~plied to the skin that the most minute details of the form are sisiMc; all these characters arc such tile

resent f&na this family for111s a reder does not need to be rcmindcd

ell by the structure Thc f ~ c t with only a single Iloof ellable Us

t, and so that if only the to recognise at the first gli'nce the not ver).

are taken irlto one numerous species of this family which arc

jn luaking a scp:irate now found wild only in the Old ~ ~ o r l ~ l * As

the name of .solidun- domestic animals rhc horses have not only

defined, gradually dis- inhabited, but have spread over t he entire

e the forms that haye i surface of the earth sa\'e only the cxtrenIe

f t he horscs 1~hc.n see19 frollt s by i t s narrow greatly-elon-

39