III.—THE RHINOCEROS FAMILY (RHINOCEROTIDÆ).
The Rhinoceroses form the third family of the sub-order of Perissodactyla. They are to be found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and in Eastern Asia—in India, Java, and Sumatra, &c., where the climate is tropical or sub-tropical. They are represented by several living species, as well as by several extinct forms which ranged, in the later Tertiary times, over nearly the whole of Europe and Northern Asia. The principal characters which are to be observed in the Rhinoceros are the large unwieldy bodies, supported on short, stout legs, terminating in a large callous pad with hoof-bearing toes, the large and long head, the small eyes and ears, and the short tail. All the living species also possess one or two horns, which are placed in the middle line of the head on and above the nose. The horns are to be viewed as a mere appendage to the skin, like hair, for they are only skin deep, and are composed of a series of fibres matted together, and are essentially a mass of hair in which each hair is confluent with those next to it. Horns were present also in all the fossil species excepting one, the Aceratherium, the hornless Rhinoceros of the Miocene Age. The skin in all the Rhinoceroses is very thick, and is converted into a jointed armour in some of the Asiatic species; it is also scantily covered with hair, except in “the Hairy-eared Rhinoceros.” A fossil kind was woolly.
It is a disputed point whether the word Reèm, mentioned several times in the Bible, and translated in the authorised version as Unicorn, is the Rhinoceros or the Urus; the probability seems to be that the latter is intended. The first time Reèm is mentioned in the Bible is in Numbers xxiii. verses 21, 22, to the following effect:—“The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of Reèm.” Whatever animal Reèm may have been, it was a creature evidently of great power, and the strongest known to the prophet. In another passage—Deut. xxxiii. verses 16, 17—we obtain the information that Reèm was a two-horned and not a one-horned animal, and therefore could not possibly have been the Indian Rhinoceros at least, and that it is mentioned at the same time with Bullocks. Other passages speak of Reèm in connection with the plough and harrow, for which its tameless and savage disposition rendered it unfit. It is also spoken of in Isaiah in connection with sacrifices of cattle (chap. xxxiv. verses 6, 7).
Topsel, an author of the sixteenth century, while trying to show that there lived such a creature as the fabled Unicorn, and giving a picture representing it as possessing the horn of the Narwhal, the body of a Horse, and the feet of an Ox, successfully shows Reèm to mean neither a Unicorn nor Rhinoceros, but simply an Ox. He relates:—“That there is such a beast the Scripture itself witnesseth, for David thus speaketh in the 92nd Psalm: Et erigetur cornu meum tanquam, monocerotis—that is, my home shall bee lifteth up as the horne of a unicorn.” He goes on to say: “We have already shown, in the story of the Rhinoceros, that Reèm in Hebrew signifies a Unicorne, although Munster be of another opinion; yet the Septuagints, in the translation of Deut. xxxiii., do translate it a Unicorne, for the Rhinoceros hath not one horne but two. Rabbi Solomon, David Kimchi, and Saadius do always take Reèm and Karas for a Unicorne, and they derive Reèm from Rom, which signifieth Altitudinem, height, because the horne of the Unicorn is lifted up upon high. Hereunto the Arabians agree, which call it Barkeron, and the Persians Bark; the Chaldeans, Remana. In the 39th chapter of Job the Lord speaketh in this manner to Job:—‘Will the Unicorne rest and serve thee, or tarry beside thy cratches? Canst thou bind the Unicorne with a halter to thy plough to make furrows? or will he make plaine the clots of the valleys?’ ... Whereby God Himself must needs be traduced if there be no Unicorne in the world.” We may therefore conclude that Reèm was one of the Oxen wild in those times in Palestine. It, probably, was the great wild Ox, or Urus, which formerly abounded in the forests of Macedonia, and was hunted in the forests of Germany as late as the tenth century after Christ.
The Rhinoceros was first seen at Rome, according to Pliny, in the games given by Pompey to the Roman people. He describes it as being possessed of one horn on its nose, which it sharpens on a stone before it fights, and that when it fights with the Elephant it attempts to rip its belly open. The earliest time the animal was mentioned by name was by Agatharchides, who describes it as fighting in the manner above alluded to. In both these instances it is evident that the one-horned Asiatic species is meant. The African Rhinoceros, according to Dion Cassius, was for the first time brought before the notice of the Romans in B.C. 39, in the games given by Augustus to celebrate his victory over Cleopatra. It was exhibited along with a Hippopotamus, and both animals were in all likelihood obtained from the Upper Nile.
Probably the first Rhinoceros ever seen by modern Europeans was a one-horned species, the R. unicornis, sent from India to Emanuel, King of Portugal, in 1513. A sketch was sent from Lisbon to Nürnberg, and a most extraordinary engraving was made by Albert Dürer, from which Gesner, Topsel, &c., took copies. This animal was made to appear in a wonderful suit of armour beautifully decorated, and supplied with a second horn on the shoulders, resembling the point of that of the Narwhal. Topsel’s description of the Rhinoceros is most ludicrous—“First of all, that there is such a beast in the world both Pliny, Solinus, Diodorus, Ælianus, Lampridius, and others, doe yeald erefrigable testimony.” He then goes on to say “The picture here expressed was taken by Gesner from the beast alive at Lisbon, in Portugale.... Eucherius saith that the Rhinoceros hath two hornes in his nose, but that is utterly false, as you may see by the picture.... The Rhinoceros cast up a Beare into the aire even as a Bull would do a ball which were laid upon his two hornes; we shall not neede to apply Gemino cornu to the Bull, as Politianus doth, but rather take it figuratively for a strong horne, and if it must needs be litterall, it is apparent by the picture that there is another little horne, not upon the nose, but upon the wither of the beast.... When they are to fight they whet their horne upon a stone; and there is not only a discord betwixt these beasts and Elephants for their food, but a naturall description and enmity: for it is confidently affirmed that when the Rhinoceros which was at Lisbone was brought into the presence of an Elephant, the Elephant ran away from him.... Hee (the Rhinoceros) is taken by the same means that the Unicorn is taken, for it is said by Albertus, Isidorus, and Alumnus, that above all other creatures they love virgins, and that unto them they will come, be they never so wilde, and fall asleep before them, so being asleep they are easily taken and carried away.” Topsel then goes on to inform us that “all the later physicians attribute the virtue of the Unicorn’s horne to the Rhinoceros’s horn, but they are deceived by imitation of Isidorus and Albertus, for there is none of the ancient Græcians that have ever observed any medicines in the Rhinoceros. The Indians made bottles of their skins, wherein they put their lycion, or succum medicatum.”
The first Rhinoceros brought alive to England was in 1685, and another was shown throughout a great part of Europe in 1739, and another in 1741. Parsons[266] described and figured the Rhinoceros of 1739, and refers to that of 1741, which Cuvier says he believes to be the same animal afterwards shown in Paris in 1749, painted by Oudry, and afterwards engraved by Edwards and figured by Albinus. It was the one described by Daubenton, as well as by Meckel. The one of which Cuvier gives the osteology was the fifth brought to Europe. It arrived at Versailles in 1771, and died in 1793, at the age of about twenty-six years. Another Rhinoceros arrived from the East Indies in 1790, as a present to Mr. Dundas. This was afterwards purchased for £700, and exhibited at Exeter ’Change and also about England generally. Another animal, which was destined for the menagerie of the Emperor of Germany, arrived from India in 1800, but died in London soon after its arrival. It was dissected by Mr. Thomas, and his observations thereon were published in the “Philosophical Transactions.” Shortly afterwards an eighth arrived, which subsequently went to Germany. Since this it has become common in the Zoological Gardens in various parts of Europe, and, in 1878, the genus was represented in the Regent’s Park by no less than five different species and varieties.
SKELETON OF THE RHINOCEROS.
The skeleton of the Rhinoceros, viewed generally, has a resemblance to that of the little Hyrax, the Tapir, and the Horse. The skull is much elevated at the base, being somewhat of a pyramidal form, and the nasal bones curve upwards and downwards, and are of such a size and thickness, in order to support one or more immense horns, that they are quite unparalleled for their development in any other existing quadruped. The nasal bones, together with the pre-maxillary and maxillary bones, form the general contour for the external apertures of the nostrils. This is peculiar, and found in no other animal, with the exception of the Tapir.
The Rhinoceros has no canine teeth; the incisor teeth vary, not only in regard to their form and proportions, but also their existence; and in the varieties of these teeth we may discern the same inverse relation to the development of the horns which is manifested by the canines of the Ruminants. Thus, the two-horned Rhinoceroses of Africa, which are remarkable for the great length of one or both of the nasal weapons, have no incisors in their adult dentition; neither had the great extinct hairy species (Rhinoceros tichorhinus), though that the latter had great horns is proved by the nature of the bones of the nose and face which supported their weight. The Sumatran bicorn Rhinoceros combines, with comparatively small horns, moderately developed incisors in both jaws.
The sternum of the mature animal consists of four bones, the first of which is compressed into a ploughshare-like shape, and projects in a point in front of the first rib. All the bones of the fore limbs of the Rhinoceros resemble those of the Tapir more than those of any other animal; but from their much larger size are not at all likely to be confounded with them. Of the hind limbs, the points offering peculiarities are as follows:—The femur is remarkable for being extremely flattened from before backwards, and the projection called by Cuvier the third trochanter projects very much, forming a hook ascending towards a hook which descends from the projection known as the grand trochanter, thereby leaving an oval hole between these two projections. With regard to the lower portions of the hind leg, resemblances are to be found both to the Horse and Tapir, the tibia, fibula, and tarsus being built on the same plan as those of the former, although some of the bones of the tarsus resemble those of the Tapir more than they do those of the Horse. There are also some points of resemblance in the metatarsus to that of both the Horse and Tapir. The difference between the hind legs of the Rhinoceros and Elephant is very marked, and their gait is different.
FEMUR OF RHINOCEROS.
The dentition of the Rhinoceros differs in a very remarkable degree from that of the family of Horses. The grinders are implanted by distinct roots, and in the upper jaw their crowns are traversed by two deep folds of enamel, which constitute open valleys. In the lower jaw they are composed of two crescent-shaped lobes, also open. The covering of “cement” is thin, and never fills up the valleys, as in the case of the more complex dental system in the Horse. The normal number of the grinders is seven in each jaw, while the incisors, as we have already remarked, vary, not only in form, but also are sometimes absent, and canines are not developed in any of the living or fossil members of the family.
THE AFRICAN RHINOCEROSES.
Of the number of species of Rhinoceros there is considerable doubt. At least four, possibly five, inhabit Africa, and four Asia. With regard to the African species, we will first take the large “WHITE” RHINOCEROS (Rhinoceros simus) described by Burchell. This is an animal measuring somewhat over twelve feet in length and about five feet ten inches in height. It has a square nose and two large rounded horns, the anterior one averaging about two feet six inches in length, but not uncommonly found measuring three feet six inches, sometimes even over four feet; the posterior rarely or never exceeding fifteen inches, and generally not being more than twelve inches. Its skin is smooth, and without any of those folds so characteristic of the Asiatic species. It inhabits all the country south of the Zambesi, and probably it may also exist in Central Africa. It feeds solely on grass, and sometimes collects into small herds.
DENTITION OF RHINOCEROS. A, UPPER; B, LOWER JAW.
OSWELL’S RHINOCEROS[267] in no way differs from R. simus, except that the front horn points forwards, and in some cases even downwards. This Mr. Drummond considers not to be a distinct species, but only an accidental and local variety.
The so-called BLACK RHINOCEROS (Rhinoceros bicornis major) is a much smaller animal than R. simus, being about eleven feet in length and five feet in height, with an elongated head and horns thicker in proportion to length than those of R. simus. The front horn is twenty inches or twenty-two inches in length, and never attains to more than twenty-six or twenty-eight inches; while the back horn averages ten inches or twelve inches. Its skin is not black, but flesh-coloured, and the upper lip is highly prehensile. The first specimen ever brought to Europe was captured in Upper Nubia in 1868, and was provided with a lodging in the Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens. It is found in all the country south of the Zambesi; inhabits thorn thickets chiefly (in which R. simus is never found), but occasionally occurs in other jungle or open ground. It feeds chiefly on thorn leaves and branches, though also eating grass, for the plucking of which its flexible upper lip is as well fitted as the long tongue of the Giraffe. It is gregarious, five or six being sometimes found together.
“WHITE” RHINOCEROS.
The KEITLOA, or Sloan’s Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros keitloa), differs but little from R. bicornis major, excepting in the formation of the head, which is somewhat shorter and broader, and it has a less prehensile lip. Its chief characteristic is the posterior horn, which is flattened at the sides, being of almost equal length to the anterior, and even occasionally longer, twenty inches and twenty-two inches being about the average. It is found sparingly in all the country south of the Zambesi, and is not gregarious, a bull and cow only being usually seen together. RHINOCEROS BICORNIS MINOR is the smallest, being seldom over ten feet in length, or more than four feet ten inches in height. The head is more elongated and the nose more prehensile than in any other species, while the legs are shorter in proportion and the feet smaller. The anterior horns rarely exceed twelve inches, and the posterior seven or eight inches. It is usually found only between Zululand and the Limpopo river, although it has been killed farther north, not far from the Zambesi. It is not gregarious, two full-grown ones and a calf being the greatest number that has been recorded as seen together. It feeds on thorns, leaves, and shoots, and rarely, if ever, is found out of the thorn jungle.
KEITLOA.
Until recent times, it was universally believed that the hide of a Rhinoceros was too tough to allow a bullet to penetrate; indeed, even now in popular opinion the belief is still retained, but, like many popular opinions, it has been proved to be untrue; and that a Rhinoceros may be as easily shot with an ordinary bullet as an Ox is fully established on the authority of Gordon Cumming, Sir S. Baker, Dr. Livingstone, and others.
Sir S. Baker, in his “Nile Tributaries,” gives the following interesting account of a Rhinoceros hunt:—“We were leisurely returning home through alternate plains and low open forests of mimosa, when Taher Sheriff, who was leading the party, suddenly reined up his Horse, and pointed to a thick bush, beneath which was a large, grey, but shapeless mass. He whispered, as I drew near, ‘Oom qurrin’ (mother of the horn), their name for the Rhinoceros. I immediately dismounted, and with the short No. 10 Tatham rifle I advanced as near as I could, followed by Suleiman, as I had sent all my gun-bearers direct home by the river when we had commenced our circuit. As I drew near, I discovered two Rhinoceroses asleep beneath a thick mass of bushes; they were lying like Pigs, close together, so that at a distance I had been unable to distinguish any exact form. It was an awkward place; if I were to take the wind fairly, I should have to fire through the thick bush, which would be useless; therefore I was compelled to advance with the wind direct from me to them. The aggageers remained about a hundred yards distant, while I told Suleiman to return, and hold my Horse in readiness with his own. I then walked quietly to within about thirty yards of the Rhinoceroses, but so curiously were they lying that it was useless to attempt a shot. In their happy dreams they must have been suddenly disturbed by the scent of an enemy, for, without the least warning, they suddenly sprang to their feet with astonishing quickness, and with a loud and sharp whiff, whiff, whiff! one of them charged straight at me. I fired my right-hand barrel in his throat, as it was useless to aim at the head, protected by two horns at the nose. This turned him, but had no other effect, and the two animals thundered off together at a tremendous pace. Now for a ‘tally ho!’ Our stock of gum was scattered on the ground, and away went the aggageers in full speed after the two Rhinoceroses. Without waiting to re-load, I quickly remounted my Horse Tétel, and, with Suleiman in company, I spurred hard to overtake the flying Arabs. Tétel was a good strong cob, but not very fast; however, I believe he never went so well as upon that day, for, although an Abyssinian Horse, I had a pair of English spurs, which worked like missionaries, but with a more decided result. The ground was awkward for riding at full speed, as it was an open forest of mimosas, which, although wide apart, were very difficult to avoid, owing to the low crowns of spreading branches; these, being armed with fish-hook thorns, would have been serious on a collision. I kept the party in view until, in about a mile, we arrived upon open ground. Here I again applied the spurs, and by degrees I crept up, always gaining, until I at length joined the aggageers. Here was a sight to drive a hunter! The two Rhinoceroses were running neck and neck, like a pair of Horses in harness, but bounding along at tremendous speed within ten yards of the leading Hamram. This was Taher Sheriff, who, with his sword drawn and his long hair flying wildly behind him, urged his Horse forward in the race, amid a cloud of dust raised by the two huge but active beasts, that tried every sinew of the Horses. Rodur Sheriff, with the withered arm, was second; with the reins hung upon the hawk-like claw that was all that remained of a hand, but with his naked sword grasped in his right, he kept close to his brother, ready to second his blow. Abou Do was third; his hair flying in the wind, his heels dashing against the flanks of his Horse, to which he shouted in his excitement to urge him to the front, while he leant forward with his long sword, in the wild energy of the moment, as though hoping to reach the game against all possibility. Now for the spurs! and as these, vigorously applied, screwed an extra stride out of Tétel, I soon found myself in the ruck of men, horses, and drawn swords. There were seven of us, and passing Abou Do, whose face wore an expression of agony at finding that his Horse was failing, I quickly obtained a place between the two brothers, Taher and Rodur Sheriff. There had been a jealousy between the two parties of aggageers, and each was striving to outdo the other; thus Abou Do was driven almost to madness at the superiority of Taher’s Horse, while the latter, who was the renowned hunter of the tribe, was determined that his sword should be the first to taste blood. I tried to pass the Rhinoceros on my left, so as to fire close into the shoulder my remaining barrel with my right hand, but it was impossible to overtake the animals, who bounded along with undiminished speed. With the greatest exertion of man and horses, we could only retain our position within about three or four yards of their tails—just out of reach of the swords. The only chance in the race was to hold the pace until the Rhinoceroses should begin to flag. The Horses were pressed to the utmost; but we had already run about two miles, and the game showed no signs of giving in. On they flew—sometimes over open ground, then through low bush, which tried the Horses severely; then through strips of open forest, until at length the party began to tail off, and only a select few kept their places. We arrived at the summit of a ridge, from which the ground sloped in a gentle inclination for about a mile towards the river; at the foot of this incline was thick, thorny, nabbuk jungle, for which impenetrable covert the Rhinoceroses pressed at their utmost speed. Never was there better ground for the finish of a race; the earth was sandy, but firm, and as we saw the winning post in the jungle that must terminate the hunt, we redoubled our exertions to close with the unflagging game. Suleiman’s Horse gave in—we had been for about twenty minutes at a killing pace. Tétel, although not a fast Horse, was good for a distance, and we now proved his power of endurance, as I was riding at least two stone heavier than any of the party. Only four of the seven remained; and we swept down the incline, Taher Sheriff still leading, and Abou Do the last! His Horse was done, but not the rider; for, springing to the ground while at full speed, sword in hand, he forsook his tired Horse, and, preferring his own legs, he ran like an Antelope, and for the first hundred yards I thought he would really pass us and win the honour of first blow. It was of no use; the pace was too severe, and, although running wonderfully, he was obliged to give way to the Horses. Only three now followed the Rhinoceroses. Taher Sheriff, his brother Rodur, and myself. I had been obliged to give the second place to Rodur, as he was a mere Monkey in weight; but I was a close third. The excitement was intense; we neared the jungle, and the Rhinoceroses began to show signs of flagging, as the dust puffed up before their nostrils, and with noses close to the ground, they snorted as they still galloped on. ‘Oh for a fresh Horse!’ We were within two hundred yards of the jungle; but the Horses were all done. Tétel reeled as I urged him forward; Rodur pushed ahead; we were close to the dense thorns, and the Rhinoceroses broke into a trot; they were done! Away went Taher; he was close to the very heels of the beasts, but his Horse could do no more than his present pace; still he gained upon the nearest; he leaned forward, with his sword raised for the blow—another moment and the jungle would be reached! One effort more, aid the sword flashed in the sunshine, as the rearmost Rhinoceros disappeared in the thick screen of thorns, with a gash about a foot long upon his hind-quarters. Taher Sheriff shook his bloody sword in triumph above his head; but the Rhinoceros was gone—we were fairly beaten, regularly outpaced. Taher Sheriff explained that at all times the Rhinoceros was the most difficult animal to sabre, on account of his extraordinary swiftness, and, although he had killed many with the sword, it was always after a long and fatiguing hunt, at the close of which the animal, becoming tired, generally turned to bay, in which case one hunter occupied his attention, while another galloped up behind and severed the hamstring. The Rhinoceros, unlike the Elephant, can go very well upon three legs, which enhances the danger, as one cut will not utterly disable him.”
THE RHINOCEROS HUNT.
RHINOCEROS.
(From the Living Specimen in the Zoological Gardens, London.)
![[❏LARGER IMAGE]](#6980843674076169253_i_329_large.jpg.id-579494486450376767.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Not unfrequently, however, it is the hunter who has to fly away before the Rhinoceros, as Sir S. Baker found out to his cost in the Upper Nile.
Gordon Cumming, in his “Hunter’s Life in South Africa,” gives the following details of the Rhinoceros:—“Of the Rhinoceros there are four varieties in South Africa, distinguished by the Bechuanas by the names of the Borèlé, or Black Rhinoceros; the Keitloa, or Two-horned Black Rhinoceros; the Muchocho, or common White Rhinoceros; and the Robaoba, or Long-horned White Rhinoceros. Both varieties of the Black Rhinoceros are extremely fierce and dangerous, and rush headlong and unprovoked at any object which attracts their attention. They never attain much fat, and their flesh is tough, and not much esteemed by the Bechuanas. Their food consists almost entirely of the thorny branches of the waitabit thorns. Their horns are much shorter than those of the other varieties, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length. They are finely polished with constant rubbing against the trees. The skull is remarkably formed, its most striking feature being the tremendously thick ossification in which it ends above the nostrils. It is on this mass that the horn is supported. The horns are not connected with the skull, being attached merely by the skin, and they may thus be separated from the head by means of a sharp knife. They are hard and solid throughout, and are a fine material for various articles, such as drinking-cups, mallets for rifles, handles for turners’ tools, &c., &c. The horn is capable of taking a very high polish. The eyes of the Rhinoceros are small and sparkling, and do not readily observe the hunter, provided he keep to leeward of them. The skin is extremely thick, and only to be penetrated by bullets hardened with solder. During the day the Rhinoceros will be found lying asleep, or standing indolently in some retired part of the forest, or under the base of the mountains, sheltered from the power of the sun by some friendly grove of umbrella-topped mimosas. In the evening they commence their nightly rambles, and wander over a great extent of country. They usually visit the fountains between the hours of nine and twelve o’clock at night, and it is on these occasions that they may be most successfully hunted and with the least danger. The Black Rhinoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often ploughing up the ground for several yards with its horn, and assaulting large bushes in the most violent manner. On these bushes they work for hours with their horns, at the same time snorting and blowing loudly, nor do they leave them in general until they have broken them in pieces. All the four varieties delight to roll and wallow in the mud, with which their rugged hides are generally encrusted. Both varieties of the Black Rhinoceros are much smaller and more active than the white, and are so swift that a Horse with a rider on his back can rarely overtake them. The two varieties of the White Rhinoceros are so similar in habits that the description of one will serve for both; the principal difference consisting in the length and set of the anterior horn: that of the Muchocho averaging from two to three feet in length, and pointing backwards; while the horn of the Robaoba often exceeds four feet in length, and inclines forward from the nose at an angle of 45°. The posterior horn of either species seldom exceeds six or seven inches in length. The Robaoba is the rarer of the two, and it is found very far in the interior, chiefly to the eastward of the Limpopo. Its horns are very valuable for loading-rods, supplying a substance at once suitable for a sporting implement and excellent for the purpose. Both these varieties of Rhinoceros attain an enormous size. They feed solely on grass, carry much fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable to beef. They are of a much milder and more inoffensive disposition than the Black Rhinoceros, rarely charging their pursuer. Their speed is very inferior to that of the other varieties, and a person well mounted can overtake and shoot them. The head of these is a foot longer than that of the Borèlé. They generally carry their heads low; whereas the Borèlé, when disturbed, carries his very high. Unlike the Elephants, they never associate in herds, but are met with singly or in pairs. In districts where they are abundant from three to six may be found in company; and I once saw upwards of a dozen congregated together on some young grass; but such an occurrence is rare.”
Gordon Cumming relates that the Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus are usually attended by little birds known as Rhinoceros Birds, “their object being to feed upon the ticks and other parasites that swarm upon these animals. They are of a greyish-colour, and are nearly as large as a common Thrush. Their voice is very similar to that of the Mistletoe Thrush. Many a time have these ever-watchful birds disappointed me in my stalk, and tempted me to invoke an anathema upon their devoted heads. They are the best friends the Rhinoceros has, and rarely fail to awaken him even in his soundest nap. ‘Chukuroo’ perfectly understands their warning, and, springing to his feet, he generally first looks about him in every direction, after which he invariably makes off. I have often hunted a Rhinoceros on horseback which led me a chase of many miles, and required a number of shots before he fell, during which chase several of these birds remained by the Rhinoceros to the last. They reminded me of mariners on the deck of some bark sailing on the ocean, for they perched along his back and sides; and as each of my bullets told on the shoulder of the Rhinoceros, they ascended about six feet into the air, uttering their harsh cry of alarm, and then resumed their position. It sometimes happened that the lower branches of trees, under which the Rhinoceros passed, swept them from their living deck; but they always recovered their former station. They also adhere to the Rhinoceros during the night. I have often shot these animals at midnight when drinking at the fountains, and the birds, imagining they were asleep, remained with them till morning; and on my approaching, before taking flight, they exerted themselves to their utmost to awaken Chukuroo from his deep sleep.”
THE ASIATIC RHINOCEROSES.
There are four different Rhinoceroses in Asia, of which two are characterised by the possession of one horn, while the remaining two possess two horns, as in the African species. All the adult Asiatic possess incisors or front teeth, which are conspicuous by their absence from the African species. The normal number of these is four in the upper, and four in the lower jaws, the median pair being the larger in the upper, and the smaller in the lower. The development of these teeth seems to stand in relation to the development of horns, those animals with the smallest horns being provided with the largest incisors. The most familiar is the INDIAN RHINOCEROS (Rhinoceros unicornis = R. indicus, Cuvier), with a single horn on the nose, and thick naked skin covered with large boss-like granulations, which lies in massive folds on various parts of the body, and more especially behind and across the shoulders and before and across the thighs. There are a few stiff hairs on the tail and ears. It inhabits the East Indies, principally beyond the Ganges, and is recorded as having been found in Bengal, Siam, and Cochin-China. It is found in shady forests, the neighbourhood of rivers, and marshy places, its food consisting of herbage and branches of trees. The fully-grown animal rarely arrives at a greater height than five, and its average may be taken at four feet.
FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS OF HEAD OF SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS.
(From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.)
INDIAN RHINOCEROS.
![[❏LARGER IMAGE]](#6980843674076169253_i_331_large.jpg.id-4768844295789442805.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Williamson, in his “Oriental Field Sports,” speaking of the Indian Rhinoceros, describes it as an inveterate enemy of Elephants, attacking whenever he can find them single, or, at least, not protected by a male of great bulk; ripping without mercy, and confiding in his coat of mail to defend him from the puny attacks of the females, as well as to resist the tusks of young males. He relates that the apparent bluntness of the horn of the Indian Rhinoceros, which is about as broad at the base as it is high, would make it appear a somewhat insignificant weapon, and inadequate to penetrate any hard or tough substance. This, however, we are informed, is not the case, Elephants often being found dead, obviously, it is stated, from the wounds received from the horn of the Rhinoceros; and in one case, as is related by Williamson, a large male Elephant and Rhinoceros were found both dead together, the Elephant’s abdomen having been ripped open, and the Rhinoceros’s horn found transfixed beneath the ribs. Williamson also states that Major Lally, an officer of the Indian army, whose veracity is beyond question, while engaged in one of his hunting expeditions, and having arrived at the summit of a low range of hills, was suddenly presented with a distinct view of a most desperate engagement between a Rhinoceros and a large male Elephant, the latter, to all appearance, protecting a small herd which were retiring in a state of alarm. The Elephant was beaten, and decamped, followed by the Rhinoceros, into a heavy jungle, where much roaring was heard, but nothing could be discerned. From this we may conclude that the habit which Pliny describes of the Rhinoceros ripping open the Elephant is confirmed by modern observation.
THE JAVAN RHINOCEROS (R. sondaicus = R. javanus of Cuvier) is a smaller representative of the Indian Rhinoceros, with the skin not so coarsely granulated, and the folds not so strongly marked. It is covered with a sparse growth of bristles, and its head and limbs are longer and more slender in their proportions than in the latter species. It inhabits Java and the Malay Peninsula, and the Sunderbunds of Bengal, living on herbage and the branches of trees.
THE SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS (R. sumatrensis of Cuvier) is the more commonly known of the two two-horned species inhabiting Asia. Its head is armed with two obtusely-pointed horns, its body is covered with bristles, and the folds of the skin are deep, and especially that behind the shoulder. The folds on the neck, however, are not so distinct as in the one-horned species.
THE HAIRY-EARED RHINOCEROS (R. lasiotis) has been confounded by naturalists with the Sumatran species, until Dr. Sclater showed from the comparison of these two animals, in the Zoological Gardens, that they were specifically distinct. The former is characterised by the long hairy fringe to the ears, by the covering of long fine reddish hair on the body, the smoother and more finely granulated skin, and the shorter tail. The one in Regent’s Park was captured in January, 1868, under very singular circumstances, as described in the following extract from a Calcutta newspaper:—“The quiet station of Chittagong has been lately enlivened by the presence of a Rhinoceros. It appears that about a month ago some natives came into Chittagong and stated that a Rhinoceros had been found by them in a quicksand, and was quite exhausted with the efforts to relieve herself. They had attached two ropes to the animal’s neck, and with the assistance of about 200 men dragged her out, and keeping her taut between two ropes they eventually made her fast to a tree. The next morning, however, they found the Rhinoceros so refreshed, and making such efforts to free herself, that they were frightened, and made application to the magistrate of Chittagong for protection. The same evening Captain Hood and Mr. H. W. Wickes started with eight Elephants to secure the prize, and after a march of about sixteen hours to the south of Chittagong they came up with the animal. The Elephants, at the first sight of the Rhinoceros, were very much afraid, and bolted one and all, but after some exertion they were brought back and made to stand by. A rope was now with some trouble attached to the animal’s hind leg, and secured to an Elephant. At this juncture the Rhinoceros roared; the Elephants again bolted, and had it not been for the rope slipping from the leg of the Rhinoceros, that limb might have been pulled from the body. The Rhinoceros was, however, eventually secured with ropes between Elephants, and marched into Chittagong in perfect health. Two large rivers had to be crossed—first the Sungoo River, where the animal was towed between Elephants, for she could not swim, and could only just keep her head above water by paddling with the fore-feet like a Pig; and, secondly, the Kurnafoolie River, when the ordinary cattle ferry-boat was used. Thousands of natives thronged the march in, which occupied a few days, the temporary bamboo bridges on the Government road invariably falling in with the numbers collected thereon to watch the Rhinoceros crossing the stream below; and sometimes the procession was at least a mile in length. The ‘Begum,’ as the Rhinoceros has been named, is now free from all ropes, and kept within a stockade enclosure, having therein a good bath excavated in the ground, and a comfortable covered shed attached. She is already very tame, and will take plantain leaves or chupatties from the hand, and might almost be led about by a string.” Begum was ultimately brought to London, and sold to the Zoological Society for £1,250.
HAIRY-EARED RHINOCEROS. (From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.)
THE FOSSIL RHINOCEROSES.
Although the species of Rhinoceroses living at the present time are but few, the researches of palæontologists show us that in past time the number of species was considerable, and that they were not, as now, confined to the warmer parts of the Old World, but were distributed over a large portion of Northern Asia and Europe.
The first representative of the Rhinoceros family is the Orthocynodon, an animal with large upright canines, discovered in the Upper Eocene strata of the United States. The fossil Rhinoceroses properly so called are first found in the Miocene, and are divided into four groups. The first group is characterised by the nostrils being separated by a bony partition, and in the adult animal the incisor teeth are lost: the second is distinguished by the absence of a bony partition between the nostrils, and the incisor teeth are of a medium size: in the third there is no partition, but the incisors are large; and in the fourth it is imperfectly developed.
An example of the first group, and probably the best known form of all the extinct Rhinoceroses, is Rhinoceros tichorhinus, or the Woolly Rhinoceros. Like that of the Mammoth, with which animal it was evidently associated, its entire body was covered with hair and wool, the skin had no folds, and its nose carried two horns, the anterior of which was of remarkable size, and characteristic of the group to which it belongs; the nostrils were separated by a complete bony partition. The Woolly Rhinoceros has been discovered under similar circumstances to that of the Mammoth, having been found embedded in ice in the northern latitudes of Asia, in the years 1771 or 1772, being some twenty years previous to that of the discovery of the first Mammoth by a fisherman named Schumachoff. According to Pallas, the discovery was made by some Yakuts, who were on a hunting expedition, and took its dimensions on the spot; it was about eleven and a half feet in length. Its body was still clothed with skin, but altogether the animal was so far decomposed that not more than the head and feet could be brought away. On the skin many short hairs still remained. The range of the Woolly Rhinoceros was undoubtedly the same as that of the Mammoth, except that it did not cross Behring Strait, and, consequently, its remains are not found in America. The remains of the Woolly Rhinoceros are found in numerous caves in association with the remains of Hyænas, having undoubtedly been a staple article of food for these animals. In England remains have been found in the caves at Creswell, Nottinghamshire; in the Brixham Cave; in Kent’s Hole, near Torquay, Devonshire; and in Wookey Hole, near Wells, Somerset, as well as in the caves of Wales and Derbyshire.
As an example of the second group, we have Rhinoceros megarhinus of the Pliocene and Pleistocene strata. This animal possessed two horns. Its remains are found in France and Italy, and in the pre-glacial forest bed of Cromer, and in the lower brick earths of the Thames valley. Rhinoceros incisivus represents the third group in Miocene times. It had no bony septum between the nostrils, the incisors are large, and there are four toes on the fore-foot. Of the fourth group the best examples are R. etruscus and R. leptorhinus. The former of these possessed two horns, and the nostrils were separated by an imperfect bony septum. Its remains are found in various Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits. The latter also possessed two horns, and its nostrils were divided by a thin and delicate bony partition, which can only be termed imperfect in comparison with the massive partition in the Woolly Rhinoceros. It is devoid of incisors. This species is found in Pleistocene deposits in Britain, France, and Italy, in caverns, and in river-beds, the most perfect remains being met with in the valley of the Thames near Ilford. These were collected by Sir Antonio Brady, and are now to be seen in the British Museum. In the figure the fragile nose septum is represented as broken.
SKULL OF FOSSIL RHINOCEROS [R. LEPTORHINUS].
The genus Aceratherium, of Kaup, is a hornless Rhinoceros, found in the same Miocene strata as the R. incisivus. Like the latter, it possesses incisors, and, not improperly, may be considered as a female of the latter species, if the horn be viewed as a sexual characteristic: first of all in the possession of the male, and afterwards transferred by descent, in the case of all the Post-Miocene Rhinoceroses, to the female.
THE EXTINCT FAMILY PALÆOTHERIDÆ.
The Palæotheridæ, or fourth family to be considered under the head of the Perissodactyla, is that which is found only in the fossil state in the Eocene strata of Europe and North America. They are allied, on the one hand, to the Horses, and on the other to the Tapirs. The type of the family, the Palæotherium, was originally discovered by Cuvier in the quarries of Montmartre, near Paris. The grinding teeth closely resemble, in the pattern of their grinding surfaces, those of the Rhinoceros. The full complement, however, of incisors and canines, as well as of grinders, is present in each jaw, namely—Incisors, 3; canines, 1; premolars, 4; molars, 3. These animals varied in size from that of a Roedeer to that of a Tapir, and were possessed of three well-developed hoof-bearing toes.
The genus Macrauchenia is also an extinct form, constituting a separate family, Macraucheniadæ, peculiar to the later Tertiaries of South America. Its skull is, on the whole, like that of the Horse, but the nasal bones are short and like those of the Tapir. It possessed a long neck, like the Llamas, and a full complement of teeth, partly equine, partly resembling those of Rhinoceros. Both fore and hind feet were furnished with three toes.
W. BOYD DAWKINS.
H. W. OAKLEY.
CHAPTER III.
ARTIODACTYLA—THE PIG OR HOG FAMILY.
Introductory Remarks on the Artiodactyla—Character of their Feet—The Wanting Digit—Comparison of the Bones of the Fore Feet of Representative Animals—Other Characters in the Artiodactyla—Classification—[SUIDÆ, OR HOG FAMILY]—Groups of the Family—Snout—Sense of Smell—Libels—Mention in the Bible—Among the Jews—Range—Teeth—[THE WILD BOAR]—General Features—Habits—Historical Mention—[THE INDIAN HOG]—Habits—A Wild Boar Hunt—A Noble Foe—[THE DOMESTIC HOG]—The “Irish Greyhound Pig”—Effects of Domestication—[THE SOLID-HOOFED BREED OF PIGS]—Description of the Bones of Foot—[MASKED PIG]—[BUSH HOG]—[BABIRUSA]—[THE WART HOGS]—[ÆLIAN’S WART HOG]—[THE ETHIOPIAN WART HOG]—[PECCARIES]—Habits—Dentition—Feet—Species—[THE FOSSIL HOGS].
SUB-ORDER ARTIODACTYLA.
BONES OF THE LEFT FORE LIMB OF (1) COMMON PIG, (2) AFRICAN DEERLET, (3) JAVAN DEERLET, (4) ROEBUCK, (5) COMMON SHEEP, (6) CAMEL.[268]
(From Specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.)
BESIDES the Perissodactyla there is another large group of animals in which the extremities of the fore and hind toes are entirely surrounded by horny tissue in the shape of hoofs. These are the Artiodactyla, or cloven-hoofed animals, which differ from the Perissodactyla in the manner in which the weight of the body is carried upon the feet. In the Artiodactyla the toes are even in number, being four in all the feet, except in the Camel tribe, the Giraffe, and a very few Antelopes, in which only two are present. It is the digit which corresponds to the human thumb in the fore foot, and to the great toe in the hind, which is always deficient, the inner and the outer digits (the second and the fifth) being frequently reduced to but minute rudiments, as in the Sheep and Ox. Some may ask how we know that it is the thumb and the great toe which are missing, and not the little finger or toe, for instance. A glance at the human hand and foot will explain the point. Counting the bones in the thumb or great toe, it will be found that there are but two bones beyond the limit of the “ball of the thumb,” or the free part of the great toe, whilst in all the other fingers and toes three bones can be counted. A reference to Fig. 3 makes it evident that in the Artiodactyla there figured, as in all others, each toe has three bones in it; and as all mammalian animals which have five toes agree with man in possessing one less bone in the inner toe than in any of the others, it is but logical to conclude that when four toes only are present, all possessing an equal number of bones, the one absent is that corresponding to the thumb and great toe. Each foot is always symmetrical in itself, at the same time that its imaginary axis, which is the line drawn down the middle of it, runs between the two medial toes, they corresponding with the third and fourth of the human limb. The accompanying drawings of the bones of the fore-foot of the Pig, the Water Chevrotain (or Deerlet), the Javan Chevrotain, the Roebuck, the Sheep, and the Camel, illustrate, better than can be done by words, the difference in the degree of development of the outer toes found in the group. In the Pig all the four toes are well developed, and there is no consolidation of their constituent elements. In the Water Deerlet of West Africa the external toes are smaller, whilst, as in the Pig, each metacarpal—which is in the human hand the part of each finger included within the palm—is independent of its neighbour, the Javan Deerlet differing in having the third and fourth fused into a “cannon” bone. But in the Red Deer the reduction of the second and fifth digits is so great that their metacarpals are not perfect, being only present in their upper parts; whilst the phalanges, or lower bones, are very small, being reduced in the Sheep to mere bony spots with minute hoofs, which latter are quite absent in the Camel, Llama, Giraffe, and Pronghorn Antelope.
There are numerous other characters which associate these animals, and prove the natural affinities of the different species, at the same time that in geologic times there existed other creatures which fill up the intervals between existing forms, and conclusively demonstrate the manner in which the order has been evolved from a common type in times long past.
All the Artiodactyla are strictly terrestrial, none being arboreal in their habits. The Hippopotamus is the only member of the group which is aquatic, spending much of its life in the water, without, however, any special modification of its limbs or tail like that found in the more truly aquatic Seals, Sirenia, or Whales.
There is a great uniformity throughout the order in the general plan upon which the limbs are constructed. In all the species the wrist in the fore limb—commonly called the knee—and the heel in the hind limb—the hock—is raised a considerable distance above the ground, at the same time that the whole weight of the body is carried upon the extreme tips of the toes, the terminal bones of which are expanded within the hoof to increase the basis of support. The collar-bone is absent in all, as it is in nearly every animal that does not use its fore limbs for any other purpose than that of carrying the weight of the front parts of its body.
In the Perissodactylate Rhinoceros the horn or horns is or are situated in the middle line of the face above the nose, and are not supported upon any bony horn core. In all those Artiodactyla which carry horns or antlers, there are appendages paired and lateral in position, at the same time that they are either supported upon bony cores, or are formed of bone itself, and are situated upon the forehead.
The following table best represents our present knowledge as to the classification of the Artiodactyla:—
| ORDER UNGULATA |  | SUB-ORDER ARTIODACTYLA |  | Non-ruminants. | | Pigs of the Old World. |
| Peccaries of the New World. | ||||||
| Hippopotami. | ||||||
| Ruminants. |  | Camels. | ||||
| Llamas. | ||||||
| Chevrotains or Deerlets. | ||||||
| Bovidæe (Oxen). | ||||||
| Cervidæ (Deer). |
A. H. GARROD.
I.—SUIDÆ, OR HOG FAMILY.
THE Non-Ruminantia, or Artiodactyls which do not chew the cud, possess the following characters: they usually have more than one pair of incisors in the upper jaw, they are devoid of horns, and the stomach has rarely more than two divisions. In only one genus, that of the Peccary, are the metatarsal and metacarpal bones united into one compact bony mass. They are divisible—as the above table indicates—into three families: the Suidæ, or Hogs, the Hippopotamidæ, or Hippopotamuses, and the Anoplotheridæ,[269] or Anoplotheres, an extinct family, met with only in the Eocene strata of the Old and New Worlds.
The Hog family may be divided into three well-marked groups:—1, the True Swine, consisting of three genera, Sus, Potamochœrus, and Babirusa; 2, the Wart Hogs, represented by one genus, Phacochœrus; and 3, the Peccaries, represented also by one genus, Dicotyles. They have three kinds of teeth—incisors, canines, and boss-covered or transversely ridged grinders—slender limbs, and the third and fourth toes are considerably larger than the second and fifth.
In order to enable the Hog family to “root” or turn up the ground, they are provided with a truncated and cylindrical proboscis, or snout, which is capable of considerable movement. The skin is more or less supplied abundantly with hair, and the tail is short, and in some cases merely represented by a tubercle.
The sense of smell in the Hog is very acute, and when its broad snout ploughs up the herbage, not a root, an insect, or a worm, escapes the olfactory sense. Although credited with stupidity, the Hog in its native state is to be styled anything but a dull and lethargic animal, neither is it the filthy animal that domestication has reduced it to. Properly cared for, the Pig is as cleanly in its habits, and as capable of strong attachment, as any other creature.
No animal that is mentioned in the Bible—not even the Dog—is spoken of with more abhorrence than the Pig; and even at the present day a Jew or Mohammedan looks upon this creature with anything but a generous feeling, treating it as something utterly detestable. So great was the horror with which the older Jews regarded the Hog, that they would not even mention it by name, but called it “the abomination.” The origin of the great antipathy which the Jews have always experienced for the Pig appears to be lost in antiquity. In Lev. xi. 7, the Hog is spoken of with other animals as being unclean and unfitted for food, simply because it did not chew the cud, although the hoof was divided. It has, however, been suggested that the Pig was so strictly prohibited by Moses from being eaten, on account of its flesh being supposed in a hot country to cause skin-diseases, and especially the dreaded leprosy; but it is to be doubted whether Moses is to be considered as the originator of the horror with which the Hog has been and still is regarded. It seems probable that this disgust dates from a period of far greater antiquity than that of Moses; and it is certain that the flesh of Swine can be eaten in hot countries without producing any bad effects. It is a matter of considerable wonder, that while Swine are held in such abhorrence, we read of herds being so often kept in Palestine. In the Gospel of St. Matthew (viii. 28–34), we read of a herd of Swine being entered by devils, and which, so possessed, rushed down a hill and were drowned in the sea. Again, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, we are told of his becoming a swineherd. Although Pigs were so much disliked, the Jews were evidently well acquainted with their habits, as we read in the Second Epistle of St. Peter (ii. 22), where the apostle refers to the fact of Pigs wallowing in the mire. It is also remarkable that with the exception of one passage in the Bible, the mention of the Hog is confined to those in a domesticated state, this exception being found in Psalm lxxx. 13: “The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.”
The genus Sus, or Hog proper, ranges, in the wild state, over the greater portion of the Old World, through Central and Southern Europe into Central and Southern Asia, and as far to the east and south as New Guinea. It is also met with in the North African forests, in the region north of the Sahara desert. It is conspicuous by its absence from North and South America, Australia, and the cold northern regions of Europe and Asia.
The adult teeth in the True Hogs (genus Sus) are forty-four, of which there are in each jaw three incisors, one canine, four premolars, and three true molars. The canines are very variable in size, being reduced to a minimum under domestication, and arriving at a maximum in the wild males.
THE WILD BOAR[270] inhabits Europe, North Africa, and Hindostan, each country having its own peculiar type or race, which sometimes is so marked as to constitute separate species in the opinion of first-rate naturalists.
The Wild Boar is distinguished by a body generally of a dusky-brown or greyish colour, having a tendency to black, and being diversified with black spots. The canines or tusks in the male are long and powerful, and project beyond the upper lip, the mouth is large, and the elongated head is set on a short neck rising out of a thick and muscular body. The size is variable, an old Wild Boar recorded by Desmarest being five feet nine inches long, while a four-year-old of the more ordinary size measured three feet without the tail. The female is smaller than the male, and with smaller tusks. The hairs of the body are coarse, intermixed with a downy wool. On the neck and shoulders the hairs take the form of bristles, being long enough to assume a kind of mane which the animal is enabled to erect if irritated. The young has the body marked with longitudinal stripes of a reddish colour.
In its habits the Wild Boar is by choice herbivorous, feeding on plants, fruits, and roots; but it will also eat Snakes, Lizards, and various insects, and when pressed by hunger nothing appears to come amiss to its voracious appetite; it is stated that even dead Horses are sometimes called into requisition. The Boar is nocturnal in its habits, rarely leaving the shadow of the woods in the day-time, and coming forth as twilight approaches in search of food, delighting in roots often deeply embedded in the soil, and which its keen sense of smell enables it easily to detect. Much mischief is often done by this animal, which ploughs up the ground in continuous furrows for long distances, and is not content, like the domesticated variety, with ploughing up a spot here and there.
DENTITION OF WILD BOAR.
The Wild Boar was formerly an inhabitant of Great Britain. According to Bell, “About the year 940, the laws of Hoel Dha direct that it shall be lawful for the chief of his huntsmen to chase the Boar of the woods from the fifth of the ides of November (9th), until the calends of December (1st), Cap. xxi. sect. 14.” In the next century Bell states that “the numbers had perhaps begun to diminish, since a forest law of William I., established in A.D. 1087, ordained that any who were found guilty of killing the Stag, the Roebuck, or the Wild Boar, should have their eyes put out; and sometimes the penalty appears to have been a painful death. It appears,” continues Bell, “that Charles I. turned out some Wild Swine in the New Forest, for the purpose of restoring the breed to that royal hunting-ground; but they were all of them destroyed during the civil war. A similar attempt was made in Bere Wood, in Dorsetshire; but one of the Boars having injured a valuable Horse belonging to the worthy Nimrod who exhibited this specimen of sporting epicurism, he caused them to be destroyed.”
The Wild Boar probably became extinct in Britain before the reign of Charles I.; while in Ireland it was abundant as late as the seventeenth century.
THE INDIAN HOG[271] differs but little in general appearance from the European Wild Boar, and is looked upon in the East as a most exciting object of the chase, its speed, endurance, and courage making it one of the most formidable and dangerous animals that can possibly be encountered.
WILD BOAR.
The habits of this animal are admirably portrayed by Williamson, in his “Oriental Field Sports.” After describing the extraordinary speed this creature is possessed of, equalling that of a good Horse, and asserting that a moderate-sized Hog can, and often does, overthrow Horses and their riders, he states that “The Wild Hog delights in cultivated situations; but he will not remain where water is not at hand, in which he may, unobserved, quench his thirst and wallow at his ease. Nor will he resort for a second season to a spot which does not afford ample cover, whether of heavy grass or of underwood jungle, within a certain distance, for him to fly to in case of molestation, and especially to serve as a retreat during the hot season, as otherwise he would find no shelter. The sugar-cane is his great delight, both as being his favourite food, and as affording a high, impervious, and unfrequented situation. In these, Hogs commit great devastation, especially the breeding Sows, which not only devour, but cut the canes for litter, and throw them up into little huts, which they do with much art, leaving a small entrance which they stop up at pleasure. Sows never quit their young Pigs without completely shutting them up. This, indeed, is requisite only for a few days, as the young brood may be seen following the mother, at a round pace, when not more than a week or ten days old. The canes are generally planted about the end of May or beginning of June, in ground rendered extremely fine by digging. For this purpose cuttings of canes are buried horizontally, and with the first showers of the rainy season, which usually commences in the middle of June, the several joints throw out shoots that grow so rapidly, as often to be two or three feet high by the beginning of September. The red cane, called the bun-ook, which is not so valuable as the smaller or yellower sort, begins to ripen in September; by the end of which month it will have attained the height of seven or eight feet. These serve as the first receptacles for the Wild Hogs, which having suffered, since the harvest in March, all the inconveniences of bad diet, long nightly excursions, scarcity of water, great diurnal heat, and frequent disturbance, arrive among them in excellent running order. It should be observed that throughout India a custom prevails of setting fire to the grass jungles in the month of May, when they are completely dry, for the purpose of increasing the growth of the new grass, by the stimulus of the ashes which are washed in with the first showers in June.” Williamson goes on to say that “the bun-ook is commonly cut in November, and the Hogs then shift to the yellow canes, which are by that time forward enough to serve as sufficient cover. Canes require much manure and excellent tillage; consequently they are usually planted near to villages, and surrounded by fields of wheat, barley, and other grain. A species of lupin called rhur is cultivated in large quantities. It grows luxuriantly, generally to the height of eight or nine feet, forming quite a wilderness.... In these rhur fields Hogs delight, as they are completely umbrageous, but being open below, admit the air freely. Besides, this wild rice growing very thick among the rhur, and a kind of soft downy grass about a foot in height, they find themselves very comfortably situated. About the middle of March, or, at the latest, by the beginning of April, the Hogs must shift their quarters, the canes and grain being by this time generally cut. However, they often retain possession to the last moment, frequently disputing every inch with the reapers, and not rarely causing them to leave parts uncut, in the hope that the Hogs will evacuate them; which, if the jungle whither they must betake themselves happen to be remote, they feel no great disposition to do. For at this season the Hog is extremely heavy and indolent, in consequence of the abundance of the excellent food to which he has, for five or six months, been habituated. Hogs are often killed in March with three and four inches of fat on their chines and shoulders. Exclusive of the habits of ease in which he has so long indulged, it is probable the Hog feels diffident as to his want of exercise, and ability to travel under such a mass of flesh. Besides, he is extremely tenacious of the spot which has so long pampered him; and, although unable to proceed any distance without being blown, yet the short sallies he makes to attack such as venture near his haunt are marked with vigour and resolution. Sometimes he will do considerable mischief with his tusks.... Great numbers are at this season either caught in nets made for the purpose, or they are shot by the shekarries, or native sportsmen, a circumstance that never fails to afford a happy triumph to the affrighted villagers.”
The Wild Boar of India is hunted usually by men on horseback, armed with spears of a more or less variable length, averaging from about six feet and a half to eight and sometimes ten feet. The shaft of a spear consists of bamboo properly weighted with lead; the spear itself is a broad and stout blade. It is held by a man on horseback in such a manner that about a foot and a half projects in front of the stirrup-iron, and the Horse is ridden in such a way that when the Boar charges it is transfixed by the spear.
An account of a Wild Boar hunt of an exceptionally interesting and exciting nature is related by Captain Shakespeare:—“While beating the sugar canes for Wild Hogs, a few miles from Hingolu, a villager came and said, ‘If you want to see a Hog come with me;’ and leading the way over the brow of a hill, pointed out an object in a field below, that in the mist of the morning appeared like a large blue rock, much too large for a Hog. However, the object presently got on its legs, and dissipated every doubt existing as to its character. About a hundred yards distant from the animal was a fissure in the hills, thickly wooded, and here, no doubt, was the Boar’s lair; and if he took alarm and rushed thither, it would be next to impossible to dislodge him. A savage Boar in his stronghold is as difficult to oust as the Grizzly Bear from his winter cave in the Rocky Mountains. He constantly rushes out, knocks over and gores the beaters nearest the mouth of his retreat, and then skips back again before there is the shadow of a chance of spearing him.”
DOMESTIC SOW AND YOUNG.
After describing the way in which he managed to place himself between the Boar and his retreat, Captain Shakespeare continues:—
“Standing as I was, behind a hedge considerably higher than my mare’s head, I did not see the Boar. The duffadar (native officer) was some thirty yards to my left, and looking over a lower part of the hedge, shouted out, ‘Look out! here he comes!’ The mare was standing still, and I had but just time to drop my spear point, which caught the Boar in the rise, and the blade was buried in his withers. My mare, from her standing position, cleared with one bound the Boar, spear and all, as this was carried out of my hand; then suddenly turning, was in her stride after the Hog. The Hog had but seventy yards to reach the jungle, and just as he struck the first branch of the jungle with his back, breaking in two the shaft of my spear (which was still fast in his body), the duffadar closed with him. The Boar, having been missed by the spear, ran under the duffadar’s Horse, and for thirty yards lifted him off his legs, plunging and kicking till the rider came to the ground. Fortunately we had three Dogs with us; and having shouted to the people to let them go, they came up and took the attention of the Boar at the moment he was on the duffadar, who had fallen on his sword and broken it, and was utterly helpless. The next moment the Boar made full tilt for his stronghold, the Dogs following close at his heels. Armed with a fresh spear, I rode up the face of the hill, and from thence looking down saw the Boar at bay and surrounded by the Hounds, but in such a situation that it was impossible on horseback to go to the assistance of the Dogs. At this moment one of the beaters came running up with a heavy double-barrelled rifle, and being apprehensive that the Hounds would be speedily slaughtered if not relieved, I took the gun, and dismounting, resolved to attack the Boar on foot. Just as I got to the bottom, I saw the monster Boar with his back to a tree, and the three Dogs looking very cautiously at him. He was about forty yards from me. Directly he saw me, putting his head a little down to take aim, he came straight at me, increasing his pace from the trot to the charge. When about fifteen yards off, he received the first bullet of my rifle in his neck, Taking not the least notice of it, he came on, and the second barrel fired at him, at about five yards, broke his left under jaw-bone at the tusk. Fortunately I brought my rifle down to the charge, and striking it with his head, the Boar sent me over on my back. While running over me he made a glance, and wounded me in the left arm. Had I not put down my rifle-barrel at the moment, most probably his tusks would have been buried in my body. As it was I had two shooting jackets on, it being a very cold morning, and I suffered more from the jar than the wound. As I lay, I seized the end of my rifle-barrel, determined to sell my life as dearly as possible. To my delight, I must say, I saw the Boar knock over the man who was running down with my big spear. He did not turn on either of us; for the Boar is a noble foe, rarely turning, unless desperately wounded and unable to go on, to mutilate a fallen enemy. The Dogs immediately tackled him, and permitted me, though almost breathless, to get up. The rifle-stock was cracked, and the pin that fastens the barrel into the stock much bent. Having put this to rights, I loaded, and, proceeding in the direction the Boar had gone, came up to within fifteen yards of where he had halted and stood regarding me vengefully. Taking aim I sent a bullet through his eye into his brain, and rolled him over dead. I have stated that the Boar is the most courageous animal in the jungle. There he was; with a broken spear in his withers, the shaft sticking up a foot and a half from the blade, knocking over a horseman and wounding his Horse; receiving two bullets—ten to the pound—the first in his neck and throat, the second breaking his jaw, and fired within a few feet of his muzzle; making good his charge, cutting down his enemy like grass, wounding him; knocking over a second man armed with a spear; defying the Dogs; and then, in the act of charging again, shot in the brain, and dying without a groan.”
HEAD OF DOMESTIC PIG.
HEAD OF WILD BOAR.
THE DOMESTIC HOG is proved by the researches of Nathusius and Rütimeyer to be descended from two distinct wild stocks—the Wild Boar, and an Eastern type known now only in the domesticated condition, and named Sus indica by Pallas. The breeds of Hogs descended from the Wild Boar are to be found in various parts of Northern and Central Europe, and resemble their progenitors in the length of their legs, and the development of their tusk. The skull, however, has become higher and broader, and their tusks are not so large, and the body is not covered with such a dense coating of hair.
MILK DENTITION OF PIG.
d, deciduous or falling-out [milk] teeth.
IRISH GREYHOUND PIG. (After Richardson.)
The old “Irish Greyhound Pig,” of Richardson, may be taken as an example of one of the domestic races descended from the Wild Boar. Sometimes in this breed, as in the Normandy Pigs, a peculiar pendant, about three inches long and covered with bristles, is to be seen attached to the corner of the jaw, as in the accompanying figure.
The domesticated breeds of China and Siam have, among other characters, broader and stouter heads than those which are descended from the Wild Boar, and are best known to Englishmen under the form of the Chinese breed. They constitute the type of Sus indica, which is now so largely represented among the various European strains, and which is mostly due to the crossing of the two original stocks.
Both these breeds were brought under the dominion of man in a very remote age, and have varied in exact proportion to the care taken in selecting the various characters. Both are found in the pile-dwellings in the Swiss Lakes which belong to the Neolithic age, or to that period when the use of metal was unknown in Europe north of the Alps, and both were probably introduced from the East by the same race of herdsmen to whom we owe the domestic cattle, Horses, and Dogs, as well as the arts of gardening, farming, and spinning. The amount of change which has been produced by the art of man in modifying the original stock may be estimated from the [figure at the top of the preceding page].
THE SOLID-HOOFED BREED OF PIGS.—Among the most remarkable breeds of Pigs under domestication, the Solid-hoofed Pigs deserve special notice, because they show a persistent variation from the even-toed type. “From the time of Aristotle,” writes Mr. Darwin, “to the present time, solid-hoofed Swine have been occasionally observed in various parts of the world. Although this peculiarity is strongly inherited, it is hardly probable that all the animals with solid hoofs have descended from the same parents; it is more probable that the same peculiarity has reappeared at various times and places. Dr. Struthers has lately described and figured the structure of the feet; in both front and hind feet the distal phalanges of the two greater toes are represented by a single, great, hoof-bearing phalanx; and in the front feet, the middle phalanges are represented by a bone which is single towards the lower end, but bears two separate articulations towards the upper end.”
This singular modification is stated by Dr. Coues to be persistent in a Texas breed. So far as the hoof is concerned the animal is perfectly solid-ungulate. It is also perfectly “odd-toed” (or perissodactyle) in the terminal phalanges, which are joined together so as to form one single hoof-supporting bone, a of figure. Above this, however, the other two phalanges (b, c) remain separate, and are widely separated from each other by the intervention of a special ossicle (d). How far this departs from the normal type may be seen from the comparison of the figure with that of the foot of the Common Hog.
BONES OF PIG’S FOOT.
FOOT OF SOLID-HOOFED PIG.
(After Coues.)
The hoof, e, is withdrawn
sufficiently to show the joints.
Among the aberrant forms resulting from domestication, according, to Nathusius, is the JAPAN, OR MASKED PIG (S. pliciceps, Gray), with its short head, broad forehead and nose, great fleshy ears, and deeply-furrowed skin, of which the great thick folds are compared by Mr. Darwin to the plates on the Indian Rhinoceros. It is held by Nathusius to belong to the same stock as the Chinese Pig, a view which is by no means improbable if we consider the enormous differences which are produced by the selection of characters under the care of man in the European breeds.
The Hogs are represented in Africa, south of the Sahara, and in Madagascar, by an animal known as the BUSH HOG (Potamochœrus), which possesses a remarkable boss or excrescence, rising from the face below the eyes. The species figured, the Potamochœrus penicillatus, has peculiar ears which look almost as if they had been cut.
One of the most singular of the Wild Hogs is the BABIRUSA (Porcus babirusa), inhabiting the islands of Celebes and Borneo, in which, in the males, the tusks arrive at an enormous size, those of the upper jaw curving upwards and backwards, and even, in some cases, penetrating the skull in their backward reach. These tusks, however, are useless for purposes of attack. The lower jaws also are armed with two sharp tusks, which are capable of inflicting severe wounds. The animal is nearly hairless, and is said to arrive at a size not much less than that of a Donkey. It is very ferocious, and is a more formidable antagonist than the Wild Boar of Europe.
The name Babirusa is said to be a compound of Baba and Rusa, being the Malayan appellations of the Pig and the Deer respectively.
The Babirusa is described as being of a delicate nature, requiring considerable care and attention when kept in confinement. In its natural state it is said to be very swift, running with the rapidity of a Deer, and to be of a fierce disposition. The flesh of this animal is highly prized as an article of food in the countries in which it is found.
MASKED PIG.
BUSH HOG.
BABIRUSA.
THE WART HOGS (Phacochœrus) constitute the second well-marked group to be considered under the head of the family of Hogs. They range over tropical Africa from Abyssinia to Caffraria. They are remarkable, not only for having enormous tusks, and for the development of a large excrescence, or wart, under each eye, but also for the peculiar construction of their last grinding teeth. These are massive, and composed of prisms of enamel surrounding a central mass of dentine, and embedded in the cement which unites them into one tooth. There is only one pair of upper incisors, and the last molars are the only ones which are not shed in the old animal. The canines are large, recurved, sharp, and project eight or nine inches beyond the lips.
Two species of this peculiar genus occur in Africa. ÆLIAN’S WART HOG[272] is a native of the North of Africa. Its skin is of a reddish colour, sparingly supplied with bristles; the neck and back support a mane, some of the bristles of which attain a considerable length.
THE ETHIOPIAN WART HOG (P. æthiopicus) is a native of the southern portions of Africa, and differs principally from the preceding in the larger size of the warts, and a more peculiarly shaped head. The food of both species of Wart Hogs appears to consist almost entirely of roots.
The Hog family is represented in the New World by the small though formidable animals known as the PECCARIES (Dicotyles), which are not more than about three feet long, and about fifty or sixty pounds in weight. They live in herds, are omnivorous, and are perhaps the most awkward animals to be dealt with by the hunter in the forests of South America. They know no fear, and will attack anything which comes in their way, inflicting frightful wounds with their short, lancet-shaped tusks, which are entirely concealed within their lips. They live in holes and hollow logs, into which they back, one by one, until their abode is full, the last standing as sentinel with his head outside. This habit affords the hunter an easy means of killing them, for if the sentinel be killed outright the next takes his place, after pushing out the dead body, and this may go on until the last of the herd is killed.
SKULL OF THE ETHIOPIAN WART HOG.
ETHIOPIAN WART HOG.
The dentition of the Peccary differs from that of the True Hogs in the smaller number of teeth, which are thirty-eight, instead of forty-four, in number, the upper incisors being reduced to four, and the premolars in the upper and lower jaws being six instead of eight. There are also differences in the shape of the teeth, the grinders presenting transverse ridges, as may be seen from the comparison of the accompanying figure with that of the Hog.
There is also another important difference to be noted between the Peccaries and the True Hogs in the structure of the feet. In the former, the middle metatarsals and metacarpals unite into a solid cannon bone analogous to that of cattle, while in the latter they are distinct during the whole life of the animal.
PECCARY.
DENTITION OF PECCARY.
(A, Upper; B, Lower jaw.)
Two species of Peccary are known, the COMMON, OR TAJUCA, OR COLLARED PECCARY (Dicotyles torquatus), which ranges from Texas as far as the Straits of Magellan, and the WHITE-LIPPED PECCARY (D. labiatus), of the forests of South America. The latter is the larger of the two and the more ferocious.
THE FOSSIL HOGS.—The remains of the Fossil Hog are met with in the fossil state in Europe, as far back as the Miocene Age, in which period, as Professor Gaudry has pointed out, the canines were not developed into large tusks in the Hog tribe. In the Pliocene Age the males possessed moderate tusks, and in the Pleistocene, as at the present time, the forests of Europe were haunted by large “tuskers.”
HIPPOPOTAMI IN A MEADOW BY THE SENEGAL.
CHAPTER IV.
ARTIODACTYLA—THE HIPPOPOTAMUS FAMILY.
Present Representatives—Two Species—[THE COMMON RIVER HORSE]—General Appearance—Characteristics: Skin, Head, Nostrils, Eyes, Ears, Legs, Tail, Mouth, Tusks, Dentition, Skeleton, Stomach—Habits—Food—Under Water—Behemoth of the Bible—Used in the Roman Sports—As described by the Ancient Naturalists—As portrayed by the Ancient Artists—The First Hippopotamus in England—Subsequent Inmates of the Zoological Gardens—Herds of Hippopotami—Harpoon for Hunting—Sir Samuel Baker’s Accounts of Hippopotamus Hunts—Various Methods of Capture—Occasional Fits of Blind Fury—A Night Attack upon a Diahbeeah—Uses of the Hippopotamus—[THE LIBERIAN HIPPOPOTAMUS]—Fossil Forms—[THE ANOPLOTHERES].
II.—THE HIPPOPOTAMUS FAMILY (HIPPOPOTAMIDÆ).
THE Hippopotami, or River Horses, constitute the second family to be considered next after the Hogs, among the non-ruminant hoofed animals possessing an even number of toes on each foot. They are represented at the present time by two closely-allied species found only in Africa, the Hippopotamus amphibius, or Common River Horse, which haunts the rivers of Africa from the Sahara desert to the Cape Colony; and the much smaller Liberian animal, living on the west coast and on the rivers flowing into Lake Tchad.
THE COMMON RIVER HORSE (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a large, unwieldy-looking animal, sometimes as much as eleven or twelve feet long, with a massive body and enormous head, and short stout legs. Nevertheless, it is capable of moving swiftly on the land and of swimming with perfect ease. Its skin is naked, thick, and penetrated by pores which exude a thick fatty secretion, which may perhaps be useful to it while in the water. The front part of the head is massive, and broader than that of any other living quadruped; the nostrils are comparatively small slits, which are closed and water-tight during the frequent dives beneath the surface of the water; the eyes are prominent, and placed far back in the head and the ears are so short that they look as if they had been cropped. They, too, have a special arrangement of muscles by which they can be closed. The short legs are terminated by four hoof-bearing toes; and the short tail is adorned with bristles arranged laterally and on opposite sides, which are the only traces of hair found on the animal. The mouth is very large, and armed with tusks and grinders, that present a fearful appearance when the animal opens its mouth with a gape, which is unsurpassed in width by that of any other animal. The tusks are enormous, especially those in the lower jaw, which are curved upwards as in the Hogs, and meet those of the upper jaw close to their sockets. By the attrition of their surfaces together their tips are reduced to a chisel edge. Between these great teeth are four front or incisor teeth, of conical shape, in both upper and lower jaws, those in the latter being the larger. The grinders in each jaw are three in number, and of a trefoil pattern on their worn surfaces; while the false grinders in front of them, four in number in each jaw, are conical, sharp-edged, and resemble those of the Hogs. The skeleton is very Hog-like, and the stomach is divided into four compartments. The liver has a gall-bladder, and the kidneys are divided into lobes.
BASE OF SKULL OF HIPPOPOTAMUS,
SHOWING DENTITION.
LOWER JAW OF HIPPOPOTAMUS,
SHOWING DENTITION.
The River Horse is nocturnal in its habits, frequenting rivers and lagoons, and rarely leaving them or their immediate neighbourhood except at night, when it will go considerable distances in search of food, sometimes causing great damage to cultivated crops, which may be estimated from the fact that its stomach is capable of holding from five to six bushels. Its food consists principally of grass, young shrubs, and water plants, and it is particularly fond of green corn. When in the water its slow respiration enables it to remain for a long time beneath the surface without coming up to breathe; and the means of closing both its ears and nostrils against the access of water, before alluded to, is admirably suited for its aquatic habits.
STOMACH OF HIPPOPOTAMUS. (After Clark.)
a b c d, the four divisions in their order; p, partition in interior of division; œ, œsophagus; du, duodenum.
The first and only time in which any animal at all answering the description of the Hippopotamus is mentioned in the Bible is under the designation of Behemoth (Job xl. 15–24), and even then there is room for doubt as to whether the description may not be nearly as applicable to the Elephant, though on the whole it certainly suits the Hippopotamus better.
It is interesting to know that Milton evidently considered Behemoth to mean the Elephant, or any rate, not the Hippopotamus, for in “Paradise Lost,” in writing of the Creation, he says:—
“Scarce from his mould
Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved
His vastness: fleeced the flocks, and bleating, rose
As plants: ambiguous between sea and land
The river horse and scaly crocodile.”
According to Pliny, the Hippopotamus was first seen in Europe in the curule ædileship of Scaurus, 58 B.C., when the exhibition in the circus surpassed anything the Romans had ever seen. Among other novelties, he exhibited a Hippopotamus and five Crocodiles. But according to Dion Cassius, the Hippopotamus was first shown in the games celebrated by Augustus, 29 B.C. So great was the demand for Hippopotami in the Roman sports at a later period, that according to Marcellinus Ammianus, they had disappeared from Egypt since the time of the Emperor Julian. Favourable circumstances, however, must have again restored them, as we learn, from the accounts given by Zerenghi and others, of their being plentiful about the year 1600 and later. In some parts of Egypt the Hippopotamus seems to have been sacred, as we learn from Herodotus. Sonnini relates that the Hippopotami laid bare whole countries by their terrible ravages, and from the terror they inspired they were generally looked upon as the symbol of Typhon, that giant who spread death and destruction among the deities which were worshipped, and were the emblem of mischance and cruelty, and that the worship of them at Papresius was practised with the view of appeasing and averting their anger.
The descriptions given by early writers of the Hippopotamus are in many instances most ludicrous. Aristotle, borrowing from Herodotus, states that “the Hippopotamus of Egypt has a mane like a Horse, a bifurcated hoof like an Ox, a flat visage or muzzle, an astragalus like the animals with cloven feet, projecting teeth which do not show themselves much, the tail of a Hog, the voice of a Horse, and in size it resembles an Ass. Its skin is of such a thickness that spears are made of it.” It is pretty clear from this description that Aristotle meant the Hippopotamus, but also that he never saw one. Diodorus approaches nearer to the truth as to the size of this animal when he says that it is five cubits in length, and that the bulk resembles that of the Elephant. However, he still retains the cloven hoof and Horse’s mane. Pliny speaks of it as living in the Nile, and also gives it the bifid hoof of the Ox, the back, mane, and neigh of the Horse, a flattened muzzle, the tail and teeth of the Boar; evidently following the descriptions given of it by Aristotle. He also adds that helmets and bucklers are made of its skin, and that the animal feeds on the crops, and is very cautious in avoiding snares; but he goes on to say that it is covered with hair like the Seals. It is difficult to conceive how he could have fallen into so great an error after having spoken of its being exhibited in Rome by M. Scaurus, with five Crocodiles. He finishes his account by stating that when the animal gets too fat, and is diseased, it bleeds itself by pressing a vein of its leg against some sharp object, and then plastering up the wound with mud, so that it may speedily heal. The ancient artists appear to have been more faithful in their portraits of the Hippopotamus than the ancient authors and naturalists in their descriptions; indeed, with very few exceptions, the animal has been pretty faithfully portrayed. One exception is a figure copied by Hamilton from one of the caves of Beni-Hassan, in which the feet are displayed as cloven and the lower tusks made to appear so excessively large as to prevent all possibility of their being hidden when the animal closed its jaws. In the figure on the plinth of the statue of the Nile, which was formerly in the Vatican, although the teeth and feet are not correct, the general idea is good; and in many other sculptures and mosaics it is very well represented, also on some of the medals and coins of Roman Emperors: sometimes it is represented as holding a Crocodile in its mouth, which probably may have given rise to the stories of the enmity the Hippopotamus bears towards the Crocodile. In more modern times we have more or less fabulous descriptions given by Isidore of Seville and Vincent de Beauvais, neither of whom appears to have seen the animal. Belon and Gillius, it would seem, are the first of the moderns who actually saw the Hippopotamus alive, and this was at Constantinople, although Sonnini appears to doubt the identity of the animal which Belon saw. This is hardly justifiable, as Belon was a very accurate observer, and even points out with much truth the differences between the one he saw and those he had seen pictured on ancient works of art.
The first Hippopotamus ever seen alive in Great Britain, or indeed in Europe in modern times, was brought to England on the 25th of May, 1850, and placed in the Gardens of the Zoological Society. Mitchell gives the following account of its capture and habits:—“Since the Imperial Exhibitions in the Circus of Rome, no living Hippopotamus has been imported into Europe, except the young male which the Society possesses. The difficulty of obtaining such an animal may be conjectured from the fact that after the Viceroy of Egypt had determined to present one to the Society, it became necessary for his Highness to despatch an expedition to the Upper Nile for the purpose of making the capture, and that success was only achieved after two thousand miles of the river had been ascended. In the month of July, 1849, the chief huntsman of the party, in searching the reedy margin of an island in the White Nile, called Obaysch, at last discovered a little Hippopotamus calf, which, as he conjectured, had been born about two days. It was so small that, in his delight at having accomplished the Pasha’s order, he seized it in his arms, and would have carried it to the boat which waited on him, had not the slimy exudation which is lavishly poured forth from innumerable pores in the skin of the young Hippopotamus rendered it so slippery that he was entirely unable to retain his hold. The animal having thus slipped from his grasp, all but escaped into the Nile, where the mother doubtless was lying near at hand. The hunter, however, with the presence of mind which characterises a good sportsman, seized his spear, and with the sharp side-hook, which has been in fashion in Egypt for three thousand years or more, he succeeded in arresting the headlong plunge of his prize, without inflicting greater injury upon him than a skin wound, the scar of which he bore to the day of his death. The long voyage down the river was successfully accomplished in a boat which had been built for the purpose by the Viceroy’s order, and ‘Obaysch,’ as they named the Hippopotamus, from his birthplace, was safely delivered in November, 1849, after a journey of four months, into the care of the Hon. C. A. Murray, through whose powerful influence the Viceroy had been prevailed upon to exert his power and assist the Society in an object for which all exertions of their own had failed. Obaysch spent his first winter in Cairo, under the charge of his intelligent keeper, Hamet Saaffi Canaana, a Nubian Arab, whom Mr. Murray engaged for the purpose. In May, 1850, proper preparations were made, with the obliging co-operation of the directors, in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company’s ship Ripon, for the transport from Alexandria, and on the 25th of that month the first Hippopotamus which had breathed on English soil within this period of history was landed successfully on the quay at Southampton, and liberated in the Gardens from his travelling-house at ten o’clock the same evening. On emerging from the door of it he followed Hamet, who had scarcely ever left him during the whole voyage from Cairo, into the building which had been prepared for him, and instantly indulged in a long-continued bath. The ten hours which elapsed between his removal from the steamer at Southampton, and his arrival in the Regent’s Park, is the longest period during which he has ever been without access to water.”
For the first year Obaysch was fed almost entirely on Cow’s milk and finely-ground Indian corn, and as he grew older he consumed about 100 lbs. weight of hay, chaff, corn, roots, and green food a day. He rapidly grew, until he reached the enormous weight of about four tons, and he was one of the chief attractions of the Gardens at the time of his death in March, 1878.
In 1853 a young female, Adhela, was obtained from the same district, and in the spring of 1871 the first calf was born, and a second in January, 1872, both of which were lost shortly after their birth, in spite of every care and precaution. The third was born on the 5th of November, 1872, and called “Guy Fawkes,” and has been successfully reared. Little Guy Fawkes sucked freely shortly after its birth, and has continued to thrive up to the present time, now rivalling her mother in size. When she chooses to disport herself in her huge tank, her vast bulk and enormous gape combine to keep the crowd of onlookers in a proper state of subjection not unmixed with awe.
Hippopotami roam together in herds, and where they have not been disturbed come fearlessly to the top of the water, often lazily basking on the surface, and on the banks; but in places where they have been hunted and shot at they become very wary, and content themselves by just showing their noses among weeds, and sometimes they are so carefully concealed that but for their footprints on the bank of the river their presence would be unsuspected. Cumming, in his African hunting experiences, gives a description of seeing an entire colony of these animals on the banks of the Limpopo. He says:—“Presently in a broad and deeply shaded pool of the river we heard the Sea Cows bellowing, and on approaching somewhat nearer beheld a wonderful and interesting sight. On a sandy promontory of the island stood about thirty cows and calves, whilst in the pool opposite and a little below them stood about twenty more Sea Cows, with their heads and backs above water. About fifty yards farther down the river, again showing out their heads, were eight or ten immense fellows, which I think were all bulls, and about a hundred yards below these, in the middle of the stream, stood another herd of eight or ten cows with calves, and two large bulls. The Sea Cows lay close together like Pigs, and as they sprawl in the mire have not the least objection to their neighbours pillowing their heads on their backs and sides.”
COMMON HIPPOPOTAMUS.
HIPPOPOTAMUS.
(From the Living Specimen in the Zoological Gardens, London.)
![[❏LARGER IMAGE]](#6980843674076169253_i_353_large.jpg.id-1194507612637473420.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Livingstone also gives a description of seeing a herd of Hippopotami as follows:—“On a shallow sand bank, under a dyke crossing the River Zambesi near the mouth of the Sinjere, lay a herd of Hippopotami in fancied security. The young ones were playing with each other like young puppies, climbing on the backs of their dams, trying to take hold of one another by the jaws, and tumbling over into the water. Mbia, one of the Makotols, waded across to within a dozen yards of the drowsy beasts, and shot the father of the herd, who being very fat soon floated, and was secured at the village below. The men then gorged themselves with meat for two days, and cut large quantities into long narrow strips, which they half dried and half roasted on wooden frames over the fire.”
HUNTING HIPPOPOTAMI WITH THE HARPOON.
The harpoon is the weapon usually used by the natives of Africa for catching the Hippopotamus. One kind of harpoon consists of a shaft about twelve feet long, at one end of which is a combination of spear and fish-hook, the spear being let into a socket of the shaft and also attached to the shaft by means of cords. At the other extremity is a coil of rope, to which is attached a large float, so that when a Hippopotamus is harpooned the float shows the position of the animal. When an animal is struck, it is followed either by men in canoes or on land, who by means of ropes get possession of the line to which the float is attached, which they entwine round a tree, and every time the animal comes up to breathe he is greeted with a shower of spears until finally finished.
Livingstone in his “African Travels” gives the following interesting account of this instrument and its makers. He relates that on the Zambesi River “beyond Pita lies the little island Nyamotobsi, where we met a small fugitive tribe of Hippopotamus hunters, who had been driven by war from their own island in front. With the civility so common among them, the chief ordered a mat to be spread for us under a shed, and then showed us the weapon with which they kill the Hippopotamus. It is a short iron harpoon inserted in the end of a long pole, but being intended to unship, it is made fast to a strong cord of milola, or hibiscus bark, which is wound closely round the entire length of the shaft, and secured at its opposite end. Two men in a swift canoe steal quietly down on the sleeping animal. The bowman dashes the harpoon into the unconscious victim, while the quick steersman sweeps the light craft back with his broad paddle. The force of the blow separates the harpoon from its corded handle, which, appearing on the surface, sometimes with an inflated bladder attached, guides the hunters to where the wounded beast hides below until they despatch it.” Livingstone then goes on to say:—“These Hippopotamus hunters form a separate people called Akombwi, or Mapodzo, and rarely—the women, it is said, never—intermarry with any other tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof from certain of the natives of the Zambesi is obvious enough, some having as great an abhorrence of Hippopotamus meat as Mohammedans have of swine’s flesh. Our pilot, Scissors, was one of this class; he would not even cook his food in a pot which had contained Hippopotamus meat, preferring to go hungry until he could find another, and yet he traded eagerly in the animals’ tusks, and ate with great relish the flesh of the foul-feeding Marabout.”
Sir Samuel Baker relates from personal observation the capture of a Hippopotamus with the harpoon above described. He says:—“At length we arrived at a large pool, in which were several sand-banks covered with rushes, and many rocky islands. Among these rocks was a herd of Hippopotami, consisting of an old bull and several cows; a young Hippo was standing, like an ugly little statue, on a protruding rock, while another infant stood upon its mother’s back that listlessly floated on the water. This was an admirable place for the hunters. They desired me to lie down, and they crept into the jungle out of view of the river. I presently observed them stealthily descending the dry bed about two hundred paces above the spot where the Hippos were basking behind the rocks. They entered the river, and swam down the centre of the stream towards the rock. This was highly exciting. The Hippos were quite unconscious of the approaching danger, as steadily and rapidly the hunters floated down the strong current; they neared the rock, and both heads disappeared as they purposely sank out of view; in a few seconds later they reappeared at the edge of the rock upon which the young Hippo stood. It would be difficult to say which started first, the astonished young Hippo into the water, or the harpoons from the hands of the howartis! It was the affair of a moment. The hunters dived directly they had hurled their harpoons, and swimming for some distance under water, they came to the surface, and hastened to the shore lest an infuriated Hippopotamus should follow them. One harpoon had missed; the other had fixed the bull of the herd, at which it had been surely aimed.
“This was grand sport! The bull was in the greatest fury, and rose to the surface, snorting and blowing in his impotent rage; but as the ambatch float was exceedingly large, and this naturally accompanied his movements, he tried to escape from his imaginary persecutor, and dived constantly, only to find his pertinacious attendant close to him upon regaining the surface. This was not to last long. The howartis were in earnest, and they at once called their party, who, with two of the aggageers, Abou Do and Suleiman, were near at hand. These men arrived with long ropes that form a portion of the outfit for Hippo hunting. The whole party now halted on the edge of the river, while two men swam across with one end of the long rope. Upon gaining the opposite bank, I observed that a second rope was made fast to the middle of the main line; thus upon our side we held the ends of two ropes, while on the opposite side they had only one. Accordingly, the point of junction of the two ropes in the centre formed an acute angle. The object of this was soon practically explained. Two men upon our side now each held a rope, and one of these walked about ten yards before the other. Upon both sides of the river the people now advanced, dragging the rope on the surface of the water until they reached the ambatch float that was swimming to and fro, according to the movements of the Hippopotamus below. By a dexterous jerk of the main line the float was now placed between the two ropes, and it was immediately secured in the acute angle by bringing together the ends of these ropes on our side. The men on the opposite bank now dropped their line, and our men now hauled in upon the ambatch float that was held fast between the ropes. Thus cleverly made sure, we quickly brought a strain upon the Hippo; and although I have had some experience in handling big fish, I never knew one pull so lustily as the amphibious animal that we now alternately coaxed and bullied.
“He sprang out of the water, gnashed his huge jaws, snorted with tremendous rage, and lashed the river into foam; he then dived, and foolishly approached us beneath the water. We quickly gathered in the slack line, and took a round turn upon a large rock within a few feet of the river.
“The Hippo now rose to the surface about ten yards from the hunters, and jumping half out of the water, he snapped his great jaws together, endeavouring to catch the rope, but at the same instant two harpoons were launched into his side.
“Disdaining retreat, and maddened with rage, the furious animal charged from the depths of the river, and gaining a footing, he reared his bulky form from the surface, came boldly upon the sandbank, and attacked the hunters open-mouthed. He little knew his enemy: they were not the men to fear a pair of gaping jaws, armed with a deadly array of tusks, but half a dozen lances were hurled at him, some entering his mouth from a distance of five or six paces; at the same time several men threw handfuls of sand into his enormous eyes. This baffled him more than the lances: he crunched the shafts between his powerful jaws like straws, but he was beaten by the sand, and, shaking his huge head, he retreated to the river. During his sally upon the shore, two of the hunters had secured the ropes of the harpoons that had been fastened in his body just before his charge. He was now fixed by three of these deadly instruments; but suddenly one rope gave way, having been bitten through by the enraged beast, who was still beneath the water. Immediately after this he appeared on the surface, and without a moment’s hesitation, he once more charged furiously from the water straight at the hunters, with his huge mouth open to such an extent that he could have accommodated two inside passengers. Suleiman was wild with delight, and springing forward lance in hand, he drove it against the head of the formidable animal, but without effect. At the same time, Abou Do met the Hippo sword in hand, reminding me of Perseus slaying the sea-monster that would devour Andromeda; but the sword made a harmless gash, and the lance, already blunted against the rocks, refused to penetrate the tough hide. Once more handfuls of sand were pelted upon his face, and again repulsed by this blinding attack, he was forced to retire to his deep hole, and wash it from his eyes. Six times during the fight the valiant bull Hippo quitted his watery fortress, and charged resolutely at his pursuers; he had broken several of their lances in his jaws; other lances had been hurled, and falling upon the rocks, they were blunted and would not penetrate. The fight had continued for three hours, and the sun was about to set; accordingly the hunters begged me to give him the coup de grâce, as they had hauled him close to the shore, and they feared he would sever the rope with his teeth. I waited for a good opportunity, when he boldly raised his head from the water about three yards from the rifle, and a bullet from the little Fletcher between the eyes closed the last act.”
Another interesting account is also given by Sir S. Baker of the capture of a Hippopotamus by means of the spear. The description conveys a good idea of the habits and wariness of these animals.
“Hippopotami had trodden a path along the margin of the river, as these animals came out to feed, shortly after dark, and travelled from pool to pool. Wherever a plot of tangled and succulent herbage grew among the shady nabbuks, there were the marks of the harrow-like teeth, that had torn and rooted up the rank grass like an agricultural implement.
“After walking about two miles, we noticed a herd of Hippopotami, in a pool below a rapid, where the rush of water had thrown up a bank of pebbles and sand. Our old Neptune did not condescend to bestow the slightest attention when I pointed out these animals—they were too wide awake; but he immediately quitted the river’s bed, and we followed him quietly behind the fringe of bushes upon the border, from which we carefully examined the water.
“About half a mile below this spot, as we clambered over the intervening rocks through a gorge which formed a powerful rapid, I observed, in a small pool just below the rapid, an immense head of a Hippopotamus close to a perpendicular rock that formed a wall to the river, about six feet above the surface. I pointed out the Hippo to old Abou Do, who had not seen it. At once the gravity of the old Arab disappeared, and the energy of the hunter was exhibited as he motioned us to remain, while he ran nimbly behind the thick screen of bushes for about a hundred and fifty yards below the spot where the Hippo was unconsciously basking, with his ugly head above the surface. Plunging into the rapid torrent, the veteran hunter was carried some distance down the stream, but breasting the powerful current, he landed upon the rocks on the opposite side, and retiring some distance from the river, he quickly advanced towards the spot beneath which the Hippopotamus was lying. I had a fine view of the scene as I was lying concealed exactly opposite the Hippo, who had disappeared beneath the water. Abou Do now stealthily approached the ledge of rock beneath which he had expected to see the head of the animal; his long sinewy arm was raised, with the harpoon ready to strike, as he carefully advanced. At length he reached the edge of the perpendicular rock. The Hippo had vanished, but far from exhibiting surprise, the old Arab remained standing on the sharp ledge, unchanged in attitude. No figure of bronze could have been more rigid than that of the old river king, as he stood erect upon the rock, with the left foot advanced, and the harpoon poised in his ready right hand, above his head, while in the left he held the loose coils of rope attached to the ambatch buoy. For about three minutes he stood like a statue, gazing intently into the clear and deep water beneath his feet. I watched eagerly for the reappearance of the Hippo. The surface of the water was still barren, when suddenly the right arm of the statue descended like lightning, and the harpoon shot perpendicularly into the pool with the speed of an arrow. What water fiend answered to the summons? In an instant an enormous pair of open jaws appeared, followed by the ungainly head and form of the furious Hippopotamus, who, springing half out of the water, lashed the river into foam, and, disdaining the concealment of the deep pool, he charged straight up the violent rapids. With extraordinary power he breasted the descending stream; gaining a footing in the rapids, about five feet deep, he ploughed his way against the broken waves, sending them in showers of spray upon all sides, and upon gaining broader shallows he tore along through the water, with the buoyant float hopping behind him along the surface, until he landed from the river, started at full gallop along the dry shingly bed, and at length disappeared in the thorny nabbuk jungle.”
HIPPOPOTAMI AT THE FALLS OF THE RIVER SENEGAL.
“I never could have imagined that so unwieldy an animal could have exhibited such speed; no man would have had a chance of escape, and it was fortunate for our old Neptune that he was secure upon the high ledge of rock, for if he had been in the path of the infuriated beast, there would have been an end of Abou Do.
“The old man plunged into the deep pool just quitted by the Hippo, and landed upon our side, while in the enthusiasm of the moment I waved my cap above my head, and gave him a British cheer as he reached the shore. His usually stern features relaxed into a grim smile of delight; this was one of the moments when the gratified pride of the hunter rewards him for any risks. I congratulated him on his dexterity; but much remained to be done. I proposed to cross the river, and to follow upon the tracks of the Hippopotamus, as I imagined that the buoy and rope would catch in the thick jungle, and that we should find him entangled in the bush; but the old hunter gently laid his hand upon my arm, and pointed up the bed of the river, explaining that the Hippo would certainly return to the water after a short interval.
“In a few minutes later, at the distance of nearly half a mile, we observed the Hippo emerge from the jungle, and descend at full trot to the bed of the river, making direct for the first rocky pool, in which we had noticed the herd of Hippopotami. Accompanied by the old howarti (Hippo hunter), we walked quickly towards the spot; he explained to me that I must shoot the harpooned Hippo, as we should not be able to secure him in the usual method by ropes, as nearly all our men were absent from camp, disposing of the dead Elephants. Upon reaching the pool, which was about a hundred and thirty yards in diameter, we were immediately greeted by the Hippo, who snorted and roared as we approached, but quickly dived, and the buoyant float ran along the surface, directing his course in the some manner as the cork of a trimmer with a pike upon the hook. Several times he appeared, but as he invariably faced us, I could not obtain a favourable shot; I therefore sent the old hunter round the pool, and he, swimming the river, advanced to the opposite side, and attracted the attention of the Hippo, who immediately turned towards him. This afforded me a good chance, and I fired a steady shot behind the ear, at about seventy yards, with a single-barrelled rifle. He disappeared beneath the water at the shot. The crack of the ball and the absence of any splash from the bullet told me that he was hit; the ambatch float remained perfectly stationary upon the surface. I watched it for some minutes; it never moved. Several heads of Hippopotami appeared and vanished in different directions, but the float was still; it marked the spot where the grand old bull lay dead beneath.”
In addition to the ordinary means of harpooning, a harpoon is also used as a sort of trap, it being well known to the hunters that the Hippopotamus has certain roads or tracks which it habitually uses, preferring a quiet gully with tall trees and grass overhanging. The hunter finding such a road prepares a harpoon within six feet of a moderate-sized tree-trunk, to which he attaches heavy stones. Having found a suitable tree overhanging the path of the Hippopotamus, he throws the rope which is attached to the shaft of the harpoon round a branch, and hauls up his weighted instrument, having done which he drives a stake on one side of the path and turns the rope round it. He then drives another stake on the other side of the path, stretches his rope across, and fastens it to the other stake. The unsuspecting animal, taking his usual evening stroll, strikes his foot against the rope, which dislodging the stakes, the harpoon comes thundering down and the Hippopotamus is transfixed, to be found in the morning by the trapper, probably dead or dying, a long way from the scene of the trap.
Livingstone gives an account in his “African Travels” of a Hippopotamus captured by means of this trap, of whose working he was himself an eye-witness. He says that “both banks of the River Zambesi near the Mboma village are dotted with Hippopotamus traps, over every track which these animals have made in going up out of the water to graze. The Hippopotamus feeds on grass alone, and where there is any danger only at night. Its enormous lips act like a mowing-machine, and form a path of short-cropped grass as it feeds. We never saw it eat aquatic plants or reeds. The tusks seem weapons of both offence and defence. The Hippopotamus trap consists of a beam five or six feet long, armed with a spear-head, or hard-wood spike covered with poison, and suspended to a forked pole by a cord, which, coming down to the path, is held by a catch, to be set free when the beast treads on it. Being wary brutes, they are still very numerous. One got frightened by the ship as she was steaming close to the bank. In its eager hurry to escape it rushed on shore, and ran directly under a trap, when down came the heavy beam on its back, driving the poisoned spear-head a foot deep into its flesh. In its agony it plunged back into the river, to die in a few hours, and afterwards furnish a feast for the natives. The poison on the spear-head does not affect the meat, except the part around the wound, and that is thrown away. In some places the descending beam is weighted with heavy stones, but here the hard heavy wood is sufficient.”
The Hippopotamus is also captured by means of pitfalls placed in the animal’s tracks. The mouth of the pit is carefully concealed by means of boughs of trees, grass, rushes, &c. Usually two and sometimes three of these pits are dug in close proximity to each other, the extreme wariness of the Hippopotamus causing it to be suspicious of danger, and whilst carefully avoiding one trap it falls into another.
Sometimes these pits catch a very different kind of animal from that for which they were intended. A good story is told in a book of African travels of a Frenchman who had the misfortune to fall into one, and after spending the whole of the morning in getting out, whilst congratulating himself on his success, and brushing off the mud, he tumbled into another close by, from which he did not escape until late in the evening.
The Hippopotamus has been considered by travellers and naturalists to be of a mild and inoffensive disposition, retiring and shy in its habits, and unless provoked rarely attacking man. Probably this to a great extent is true of the animal, but numerous instances are recorded of most ferocious and quite unprovoked attacks, and when this is the case few animals are capable of showing such blind rage.
Canoes are sometimes overturned and crunched between the jaws of this powerful animal without any apparent reason, and even on dry land it occasionally attacks man. Sir S. Baker relates an account of a bull Hippopotamus attacking the proprietor of a melon-garden, and killing him by one crunch of his huge jaws; and Dr. Moffat, the father-in-law of Livingstone, speaks of a man being literally bitten in half by one which chased him on dry land. The Hippopotamus does not seem at all particular as to the size or nature of the objects it assaults, several instances having been recorded of its charging steamers. Sir S. Baker gives the following account of one of these onslaughts on the Bahir Giraffe:—“At one p.m., as we were steaming easily, I happened to be asleep on the poop-deck, when I was awakened by a shock, succeeded by the cry, ‘The ship’s sinking!’ A Hippopotamus had charged the steamer from the bottom, and had smashed several floats off her starboard paddle. A few seconds later he charged our diahbeeah, and striking her bottom about ten feet from the bow, he cut two holes through the iron plates with his tusks. On examination two clean holes were found punched through the iron as though driven by a sharp pickaxe.”
Another attack of this kind is also related by Sir S. Baker in a lake communicating with the White Nile, which for ferocity and pertinacity is probably unequalled. He says:—“The night was cold, and the moon clear and bright. Every one was wrapped up in warm blankets, and I was so sound asleep that I cannot describe more, until I was suddenly awoke by a tremendous splashing quite close to the diahbeeah, accompanied by the hoarse wild snorting of a furious Hippopotamus. I jumped up, and immediately perceived a Hippo, which was apparently about to attack the vessel. The main deck being crowded with people sleeping beneath their thick Mosquito-curtains, attached to the stairs of the poop-deck, and to the rigging in all directions, rendered it impossible to descend. I at once tore away some of the ties, and awakened the sleeping people. My servant, Suleiman, was sleeping next to the cabin door. I called to him for a rifle. Before the affrighted Suleiman could bring the rifle the Hippopotamus dashed at us with indescribable fury. With one blow he capsized and sank the zinc boat with its cargo of flesh. In another instant he seized the dingy in his immense jaws, and the crash of splintered wood betokened the complete destruction of my favourite boat. By this time Suleiman appeared from the cabin with an unloaded gun in his hand, and without ammunition. This was a very good man, but he was never overburdened with presence of mind; he was shaking so fearfully with nervousness, that his senses had entirely forsaken him. All the people were shouting and endeavouring to scare the Hippo, which attacked us without ceasing, with a blind fury that I have never witnessed in any animal except a Bulldog.
“By this time I had procured a rifle from the cabin, where they were always kept fixed in a row, loaded and ready for action, with bags of breech-loading ammunition on the same shelf. The movements of the animal were so rapid, as he charged and plunged alternately beneath the water in a cloud of foam and wave, that it was impossible to aim correctly at the small but fatal spot upon the head.
“The moon was extremely bright, and presently, as he charged straight at the diahbeeah, I stopped him with a No. 8 Reilly shell. To my surprise, he soon recovered, and again commenced the attack. I fired shot after shot at him without apparent effect.
“The diahbeeah rocked upon the waves raised by the efforts of so large an animal; this movement rendered the aim uncertain. At length, apparently badly wounded, he retired to the high grass; there he lay by the bank, at about twenty-five yards’ distance, snorting and blowing. I could not distinguish him, as merely the head was above water, and this was concealed by the deep shadow thrown by the high grass. Thinking he would die, I went to bed; but before this, I took the precaution to arrange a white paper sight upon the muzzle of my rifle, without which night shooting is very uncertain. We had fallen asleep; but in about half an hour we were awoke by another tremendous splash, and once more this huge beast came charging directly at us as though unhurt. In another instant he was at the diahbeeah; but I met him with a ball in the top of his head which sent him rolling over and over, sometimes on his back, kicking with his four legs above the surface, and again producing waves which rocked the diahbeeah. In this helpless manner he rolled for about fifty yards down the stream, and we all thought him killed.
“To our amazement he recovered, and we heard him splashing as he moved slowly along the river through the high grass by the left bank. Ultimately he was killed, and on making a post-mortem the following morning, I found he had received three shots in the flank and shoulder, four in the head, one of which had broken his lower jaw, and another had passed through his nose, and passing downward, had cut off one of his large tusks.”
The uses to which the Hippopotamus can be applied cannot be considered as many; certainly the flesh is much eaten by the natives of Africa, and even by Europeans it is not to be despised, although travellers seem to disagree as to its merits. Cumming says the flesh is excellent eating, and Baker appears to agree with him, while Dr. Livingstone speaks of it as being pretty good food when one is hungry and can get nothing better, and that it is a coarse-grained meat, having something of the flavour between pork and beef. Probably the Hippopotamus is of considerable use in clearing the rivers of huge water-plants, which abound in African rivers, and which might otherwise in time so choke them up as to convert them from running streams to little else than swamps.
The whips made of Hippopotamus hide are in much request, and are highly esteemed in the neighbouring countries for their elasticity and durability; but the parts of the Hippopotamus most in request, especially by dentists, are the canine teeth, no other ivory keeping its colour so well.
THE LIBERIAN HIPPOPOTAMUS.—The second living species of Hippopotamus (H. liberiensis) is a much smaller animal than the common Hippopotamus; according to Dr. Morton, not being larger than a middle-sized heifer, though possessing the relative proportions of the common species. It rarely attains a weight exceeding four hundred pounds, or a quarter of a ton, as distinguished from the four tons’ weight of Obaysch of whom we have already spoken. One of the more important differences between them consists in the fact that the Liberian Hippopotamus possesses only two incisors in the lower jaw. A young animal belonging to this species was brought over to Great Britain in 1873, and is stated by Dr. Sclater to have been obtained on the West Coast, from the little Scarcies River. Unfortunately it died shortly after its arrival at the Zoological Gardens in Dublin.
The Hippopotamus ranged in the later Tertiary period far beyond its present home in the African rivers. In the Pliocene age it was very abundant in Italy, and has been met with as far north as Norfolk and Suffolk. In the succeeding, or Pleistocene age, also, it haunted the rivers of France and of England, having been found from the valley of the Ribble northwards. Its remains are from time to time dredged up from the bottom of the German Ocean, and are met with in the dens of Hyænas, as, for example, at Kirkdale, under conditions which prove that it fell a prey to the wild beasts then inhabiting the country. Strange to say, remains of this animal, now flourishing only under a tropical climate, are met with side by side with the remains of the Reindeer, which now flourishes only in a cold temperature, under circumstances which compel us to believe that both animals were living in the same region at approximately the same time. This singular fact can only be accounted for on the supposition that in those days the summer heat was great, and the winter cold severe, such as we find to be the case in Central Asia. These climatic extremes would allow of the same district being inhabited by these animals at different seasons of the year.
An extinct species of Hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon), which is characterised by the possession of six instead of four incisors in the upper and lower jaws; lived also in India in the later Tertiary age.
We have seen that at the present time Africa is inhabited by two kinds of Hippopotami, respectively of large and small size. We have also seen that in the Pleistocene age the larger animal inhabited Europe. It is a singular fact that abundant remains of a smaller fossil species, or Pentland’s Hippopotamus, should abound in the bone caves of Sicily, and that this dwarfed species should range from that island to Malta, Crete, and the Morea. It is closely allied to the Liberian species, although it is pretty clear that it differed from it in certain details, such as in the form of its molar teeth. A small species of Hippopotamus has been found fossil in Madagascar.
THE ANOPLOTHERES (ANOPLOTHERIDÆ).
ANOPLOTHERE RESTORED.
Certain extinct animals living in the Eocene times, included by Cuvier in his division of the Pachyderms, and closely allied to the Hogs and Hippopotami, constitute the family of Anoplotheres. They were first revealed by the genius of Cuvier from the study of the remains discovered in the gypsum quarries at Montmartre; and they owe their name and their most distinguishing character to the fact that their teeth, which in all number forty-four, form an even, unbroken series, like those in man, the canines not standing out sharp and prominent above the rest, as in the case of the Carnivores and the Palæotheres found in association with them. These animals presented remarkable variations in size, some being as large as a Pony, while others were about the size of a Gazelle. They varied also in their proportions, some being heavily built, as in the restoration given above, while others were slender and elegant like the Antelopes. They are of peculiar interest, because they are the parent stock from which in succeeding geological ages the Ruminants are derived.
W. BOYD DAWKINS.
H. W. OAKLEY.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Fissipedia.
[2] From the Greek, αἴλουρος, a Cat, and εἶδος, form.
[3] From κύων, a Dog.
[4] From ἄρκτος, a Bear.
- Section I.—ÆLUROIDEA (Cat-like animals).
- Family 1. Felidæ (the Cat family).
- Examples: Cat, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, Puma, Ocelot, Serval, Lynx, Cheetah, &c.
- Family 2. Hyænidæ (the Hyæna family), contains the Hyænas only.
- Family 3. Cryptoproctidæ, the Cryptoprocta only.
- Family 4. Protelidæ, the Aard-Wolf only.
- Family 5. Viverridæ (the Civet family).
- Examples: Civet, Genette, Ichneumon, Suricate, Binturong, &c.
- Section II.—CYNOIDEA (Dog-like animals).
- Family 6. Canidæ (the Dog family).
- Examples: Dog, Wolf, Fox.
- Section III.—ARCTOIDEA (Bear-like animals).
- Family 7. Ursidæ (the Bear family).
- Examples: The various kinds of Bear.
- Family 8. Procyonidæ (the Racoon family).
- Examples: Racoon, Coati, Kinkajou, Cacomixle.
- Family 9. Ailuridæ, contains the Panda only.
- Family 10. Mustelidæ (the Weasel family).
- Examples: Weasel, Stoat, Ferret, Badger, Skunk, Ratel, Glutton, Marten, Polecat, Otter.
[6] Felidæ.
[7] Felis leo.
[8] “Tower Menagerie.”
[9] Judges xiv. 5, 6.
[10] 1 Samuel xvii. 34–36.
[11] 2 Samuel xxiii. 20.
[12] Humboldt: “Views of Nature.”
[13] Livingstone.
[14] Mr. Bartlett, the able Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens.
[15] Felis tigris.
[16] Sir Joseph Fayrer: “The Royal Tiger of Bengal: his life and death.”
[17] Felis pardus.
[18] Sir James Emerson Tennent, “Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon.”
[19] Felis onca.
[20] “Naturalist’s Voyage.”
[21] Felis concolor.
[22] A weapon used by the Gauchos, and consisting of three cords, knotted together at one end, and having each a ball or stone attached to the other. The smallest of these is held in the hand, and the Gaucho “whirls the other two round and round his head, then taking aim, sends them like chain shot rushing through the air.”
[23] Felis uncia.
[24] Felis macrocelis.
[25] Felis pardalis.
[26] Buffon.
[27] Felis marmorata.
[28] Felis viverrina.
[29] Felis pajeros.
[30] Felis macrura.
[31] Felis tigrina.
[32] Felis ferox.
[33] Brehm.
[34] Felis jaguarondi.
[35] Felis eyra.
[36] Felis serval.
[37] Felis rubiginosa.
[38] Felis bengalensis.
[39] Jerdon.
[40] Felis aurata.
[41] Felis torquata.
[42] Scott, quoted by Jerdon.
[43] Felis manul.
[44] Felis maniculata.
[45] Felis catus.
[46] Brehm.
[47] Felis domestica.
[48] Pennant, “British Zoology.”
[49] “Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.”
[50] “Natural History of Selborne.”
[51] White’s “Selborne.”
[52] Felis chaus.
[53] Felis lynx.
[54] Tschudi, quoted by Brehm.
[55] Felis pardina.
[56] Felis canadensis.
[57] Felis rufa.
[58] Felis caracal.
[59] Felis jubata.
[60] “Mammals of India.”
[61] Hyænidæ.
[62] The dental formula is—incisors, 3–33–3, canines, 1–11–1, premolars, 4–43–3, molars, 1–11–1 = 34.
[63] Lycaon.
[64] Hyæna crocuta.
[65] Andersson.
[66] Harris.
[67] Hyæna brunnea or fusca.
[68] Hyæna striata.
[69] Canon Tristram.
[70] Cryptoproctidæ.
[71] Cryptoprocta ferox.
[72] Protelidæ.
[73] Proteles Lalandii.
[74] Viverridæ.
[75] The dental formula is, therefore, incisors, 3–33–3, canines, 1–11–1, premolars, 4–44–4, molars, 2–22–2 = 40.
[76] Viverra civetta.
[77] Viverra Zibetha.
[78] Viverra pallida seu rasse.
[79] Genetta vulgaris.
[80] Herpestes griseus.
[81] A plant allied to that which produces the well-known nux vomica. It is used by Indian physicians in fevers, and as an antidote to poisons.
[82] A tree allied to that which produces Peruvian bark. It is called the Mungo, or “Earth-gall,” by the Malays. It is also supposed to be an antidote to poisons.
[83] The “birth-wort.” It is used in India as a remedy for gout, and in England is given to Cows after calving.
[84] A tree allied to the acacias and to the sensitive plant.
[85] Pharsalia, lib. iv. 729.
[86] The nux vomica plant.
[87] Urva cancrivora.
[88] Paradoxurus musang.
[89] Arctictis binturong.
[90] N.B.—The description of some members of the Viverridæ, or Civet family, has been inadvertently omitted from our chapter on that group, and will be found at the end of the article on the Land Carnivora (pp. 206–208).
[91] Canidæ.
[92] Canis familiaris.
[93] 2 Kings xvii. 31.
[94] Darwin’s “Animals and Plants under Domestication.”
[95] Youatt: “The Dog.”
[96] Darwin, “Animals and Plants under Domestication.”
[97] “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1875.
[98] Darwin’s “Origin of Species.”
[99] Dr. Huggins, Nature, Vol VII.
[100] Youatt.
[101] Youatt.
[102] Darwin’s “Expression of the Emotions.”
[103] Moles.
[104] Quarterly Journal of Science, April, 1876.
[105] “St. Ronan’s Well.”
[106] From the Globe newspaper.
[107] “Animal Depravity,” Quarterly Journal of Science, 1875.
[108] Quoted from the Daily News in the article on “Animal Depravity” in the Quarterly Journal of Science for 1875.
[109] See Sir Thomas Watson: “Hydrophobia and Rabies,” Nineteenth Century, December, 1877.
[110] Sir J. Richardson’s “Fauna Boreali-Americana.”
[111] Hayes, quoted by Jesse.
[112] Youatt.
[113] Tristram.
[114] Youatt.
[115] Youatt.
[116] “The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China.”
[117] Canis primævus.
[118] Williamson, quoted by Youatt.
[119] Canis dingo.
[120] Youatt.
[121] Youatt.
[122] Canis lupus.
[123] Virgil, Ec. ix., 53:—
“All, all forgotten now, those youthful lays;
My voice will follow, ay, my voice decays;
The Wolf hath eyed me first, hath Mœris eyed.”
[124] L. Énault, quoted by Brehm.
[125] Jesse: “History of the British Dog.”
[126] Richardson: “Fauna Boreali-Americana,” 1829.
[127] Canis latrans.
[128] Richardson.
[129] Canis aureus.
[130] Canis vulpes.
[131] Canis lagopus.
[132] Canis zerda.
[133] Megalotis Lalandii.
[134] The dental formula is, therefore, incisors, 3–33–3; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 4–44–4; molars, 4–44–4 = 48.
[135] Nycterentes procyonides.
[136] Lycaon pictus.
[137] Gordon Cumming quoted by A. Murray: “Geographical Distribution of Mammals.”
[138] Ursidæ.
[139] Ursus arctos.
[140] “Lake ’Ngami.”
[141] Ursus americanus.
[142] Ursus ferox.
[143] Ursus syriacus.
[144] Ursus isabellinus.
[145] Ursus tibetanus and U. (Helarctos) malayanus.
[146] Jerdon: “Mammals of India.”
[147] Ursus (or Melursus) labiatus.
[148] Tickell, quoted by Jerdon.
[149] Tannent: “Ceylon.”
[150] Ursus (or Helarctos) ornatus.
[151] Ursus (or Thalassarctos) maritimus.
[152] R. Brown, quoted from “Arctic Manual.”
[153] Quoted by Jesse: “History of the British Dog.”
[154] Procyonidæ.
[155] The dental formula is—Incisors, 3–33–3; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 4–44–4; molars, 2–22–2 = 40.
[156] Procyon lotor.
[157] Nasua narica.
[158] Cercoleptes caudivolvulus.
[159] Bassaris astuta.
[160] Ailuridæ.
[161] Ailurus fulgens.
[162] Mustelidæ.
[163] “Fur-bearing Animals: a Monograph of North American Mustelidæ.”
[164] Gulo luscus.
[165] The dental formula is—Incisors, 3–33–3; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 4–44–4; molars, 1–12–2 = 38.
[166] Mustela martes.
[167] Mustela Pennantii.
[168] Mustela zibellina.
[169] Coues.
[170] Putorius vulgaris. The Weasel is very commonly referred to the genus Mustela, but this name properly belongs to the Martens.
[171] Putorius erminca.
[172] Putorius fœtidus.
[173] Putorius furo.
[174] Putorius lutreola and P. vison.
[175] Galictes vittata.
[176] Galictes barbara.
[177] Mellivora capensis and M. indica.
[178] Meles vulgaris.
[179] The Times, Oct. 24th, 1877.
[180] Taxidea americana.
[181] Mydaus meliceps.
[182] Ictonyx zorilla.
[183] Mephitis mephitica.
[184] Coues.
[185] Mephitis (or Spilogale) putorius.
[186] Mephitis (or Conepatus) mapurito.
[187] Lutra vulgaris.
[188] The dental formula is—Incisors, 3–33–3; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 4–43–3; molars, 1–12–2 = 36.
[189] “Malacca, Indo-China, and China.”
[190] Lutra canadensis.
[191] Pteronura Sandbachii.
[192] Enhydra lutris.
[193] Dental formula—Incisors, 3–32–2; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 3–33–3; molars, 1–12–2 = 32.
[194] Capt. C. M. Scammon, “American Naturalist,” Vol. IV., 1870.
[195] H. W. Elliott, quoted by Coues, “Fur-bearing Animals.”
[196] The dental formula is—Incisors, 3–33–3; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 2–22–2; molars, 1–11–1 = 28.
[197] The dental formula is—Incisors, 3–33–3; canines, 1–11–1; premolars, 4–44–4; molars, 3–33–3 = 44.
[198] “Les Enchaînements du Monde animal, dans les temps géologiques.” Paris, 1878.
[199] Cynogale Bennettii.
[200] Cynictis penicillata.
[201] Crossarchus obscurus.
[202] Suricata zenick.
[203] Pinna, a fin; pes, a foot.
[204] Pinna, a fin; gradus, a step.
[205] From the Greek, θρίξ, a hair, and ἔχω, I have.
[206] From the Greek, οὖς, ὠτός an ear.
[207] From the Greek, φώκη, a seal.
[208] Trichechus rosmarus.
[209] Otaria ursinus, the genus Callorhinus of certain authorities.
[210] Otaria Stelleri, the genus Eumetopias of Gray and others.
[211] Otaria Gilliespii.
[212] Otaria Hookeri, the genus Arctocephalus and Phocarctos of Gray.
[213] Otaria albicollis, the Neophoca lobata of Gray.
[214] Otaria jubata.
[215] Otaria falklandica, placed under the genus Arctophoca by Peters, and Euotaria by Gray.
[216] Otaria pusilla, the Arctocephalus antarticicus of Gray.
[217] Otaria Forsteri, the Gypsophoca tropicalis of Gray.
[218] Otaria (Euotaria) cinerea.
[219] Phoca vitulina, the genus Callocephalus of some authorities.
[220] Phoca fœtida, or Phoca hispida; the genus Pagomys of Gray.
[221] Phoca groelandica; the genus Pagophilus of Gray.
[222] Phoca barbata.
[223] Halichœrus gryphus.
[224] Monachus albiventer.
[225] Cystophora cristata.
[226] Macrorhinus elephantinus; the genus Morunga of Gray.
[227] Ommatophoca Rossii.
[228] Stenorhynchus leptonyx.
[229] Stenorhynchus (Leptonyx) Weddellii.
[230] Lobodon carcinophaga.
[231] Platanista gangetica.
[232] Inia Geoffrensis.
[233] Pontoporia Blainvillii.
[234] Z. cavirostris.
[235] Z. indicus.
[236] M. Sowerbiensis.
[237] Berardius Arnouxi.
[238] Hyperoodon rostratus.
[239] Physeter macrocephalus.
[240] Kogia breviceps; the Physeter simus of Owen.
[241] K. (Euphysetes) Grayii of MacLeay.
[242] Globiocephalus melas.
[243] Grampus griseus.
[244] Phocœna communis.
[245] Orca gladiator.
[246] Delphinus delphis.
[247] D. tursio.
[248] Beluga leucas.
[249] Monodon monoceros.
[250] Balæna mysticetus.
[251] Megaptera; μέγας, great, and πτερόν, fin.
[252] Rhachianectes glaucus of Cope.
[253] Balænoptera; φάλαινα, a whale, and πτερόν, fin.
[254] Rhytina Stelleri.
[255] Halicore dugong.
[256] παχὺς, thick; δέρμα, skin.
[257] Elephas indicus.
[258] Graphic, June 12, 1875.
[259] Elephas africanus.
[260] From the Latin unguis, ungula, a hoof.
[261] περισσός, uneven; δάκτυλος, toe.
[262] ἄρτιος, even; δάκτυλος, toe.
[263] Tapirus americanus.
[264] Tapirus villosus.
[265] Tapirus malayanus.
[266] Philosophical Transactions, xlii.
[267] Rhinoceros Oswellii.
[268] The numbers in each figure refer to the digits, the thumb being always absent. The seven square-shaped bones above the digits in each figure constitute the wrist or carpus. Above these are the large radius, and the small ulna in some.
[269] ἀ, without; ὀπλή, a hoof; θηρίον, wild beast; wild beast without hoof.
[270] Sus scrofa.
[271] Sus scrofa (Indian variety).
[272] Phacochœrus Ælianus.