A young specimen of this animal (of which there is an excellent coloured plate in 'P. Z. S.' 1872, p. 494) was captured in 1868 in Chittagong. She had got into a quicksand, and had exhausted herself by floundering about. The natives contrived to attach two ropes to her neck, and, hauling her out, managed to make her fast to a tree. Next morning they found her so refreshed and vigorous that they were afraid to do anything more to her, and so sent messengers to the magistrate of Chittagong to report the capture. The same evening Captain Hood and Mr. Wickes started with eight elephants to secure the prize, and after a march of sixteen hours to the south of Chittagong, they came up to the animal. The elephants at first sight bolted, but were brought back by considerable exertion, and the rhinoceros was made fast to one by a rope. The poor creature roared with fright, and a second stampede ensued, in which luckily the rope slipped off the leg of the rhinoceros to which it was attached. Ultimately she was secured between two elephants and marched into Chittagong, where she soon got very tame. Eventually she was sent to England, and was purchased by the Zoological Society for £1250—a very handsome price, owing doubtless to the rarity of the specimen.
[NO. 432. RHINOCEROS vel CERATORHINUS SUMATRENSIS.]
The Sumatran Rhinoceros.
NATIVE NAMES.—Kyen-shan, Burmese; Bodok, Malayan.
HABITAT.—Tenasserim provinces; Burmah, extending into Siam; the Malayan peninsula and Sumatra.
DESCRIPTION.—A smaller animal than the preceding, with a hard, black, rough, bristly skin; a deep fold behind the shoulder; ears set closer than in the last species, and filled with black hair internally; the muzzle in front of the first horn is broader; the horns are two in number, and attain a good size, curving, but slightly, backward; the tail is conspicuously longer than in R. lasiotis, and is tapering and not tufted. There is a well drawn and coloured plate of this species in the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society' for 1872, p. 794, as also several engravings showing the heads of the two animals in juxtaposition.
SIZE.—About 3 feet 8 inches in height at the shoulder.
At first it was considered that R. lasiotis was of this species, and as such it was described and sent to England; but on the subsequent arrival of a genuine R. Sumatrensis from Malacca it was apparent that R. lasiotis was quite distinct. The latter is of larger size, lighter colour, with wide-set ears and a tufted tail. The former is smaller, darker, with narrow-set ears and a long tapering semi-nude tail.[31] The Society paid Mr. Jamrach £600 in 1872 for the female specimen from Malacca, which settled the question of separate species. A young R. Sumatrensis was born in the Victoria Docks in London on December 7th, 1872, on board the steamship Orchis. There is a coloured sketch of the little one in the 'P. Z. S.' for 1873, and an interesting account of it and the mother by Mr. Bartlett, the Superintendent of the Society's Gardens. From the circumstances of the capture of the mother it appears that the period of gestation of the rhinoceros is about the same as that of the hippopotamus, viz. seven months.
31 There is a very interesting letter in The Asian for July 20, 1880, p. 109, from Mr. J. Cockburn, about R. Sumatrensis, of which he considers R. lasiotis merely a variety. He says it has been shot in Cachar.—R. A. S.
Although the number of species of living rhinoceros is but few, there are a great many fossil species which show that the animal was more plentiful and in greater variety in prehistoric times.
Remains of the woolly rhinoceros (R. trichorhinus) have been found, like those of the mammoth, imbedded in ice; it was about eleven and a-half feet in length, and its body was covered with woolly hair. A specimen found in 1771 or 1772 was entire, and clothed with skin, but so far decomposed as to prevent more than the head and feet being preserved; remains of other fossil species are found throughout Europe, including Great Britain, and also in India. In 'A Sketch of the History of the Fossil Vertebrata of India' by Mr. R. Lydekker, published in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' vol. xlix., 1880, will be found the names of eight species of fossil rhinoceros, inclusive of R. Indicus, which is found in recent alluvia—it is found with two others in the Pleistocene formation, and five others are from the Pleiomiocene.