Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-10-13
THE RHINOCEROS.

er be than dragged around the country
in a gaudily-painted cart as one of the
attractions of menagerie. or confined
in some geological garden, where he is
prevented from goring the small boy
who gazes at him as impudently as he
pleases-hc lives in Asia or Africa.
Perhaps it would be more proper to say
that he fights in those countries, for the
greater portion of his long life is made
up Of combats with his relatives or any
other animals who come in.his way.
In Africa there are four varieties, dis
tinguished by the natives as follows:
the bOrele, or black rhinoceros,. the
keitlOa, or twO-horned black, the moo
hOOhO, or common white, and the ka-
boba. or long horned white rhinoceros.
The first two are smaller but more fierce
than the white ones, and are quite as
willing to hunt the sportsman as to be
hunted. The largest of the Africans is
the long-horned white rhinoceros, which
has been found eighteen feet six inches
in length. and the circumference of its
broad back and low-hanging belly is
very nearly the same number of feet
and inches
There are three species of the Asiatic
rhinOcerOS, two of which have but one
horn. while the third has two. These
are much smaller than their brothers
from Africa, and their skin hangs in
folds.
Mr.. Greenwood says that the hunters
and writers who have asserted that q
bullet will hardly pierce this animal s
hide are mistaken, and chat a rifle ball
will penetrate the loose. baggy cover
ing with little or no difficulty The be-
lief that the hide was SO tough proba-
bly, arose from experiments made with
that which had been toughened almost
like horn by process employed by the
natives, who make from it whip-stocks
and walking-canes.
MIR. Gordon Cumming, the celebrated
hunter, in speaking of the largest Afri-
can species, saws: at is about as large
around as it is long, while the body sets
SO low on its legs that a tall man a-tiptoe
could see across its back. Attached to
its blunt nOse-not to the bone, but
merely set in the skin with network
of muscles to hold it's horn more or
less curved, hard as steel, sharp and
more than yard long, and Immediate
ly behind this is q little horn, equally
sharp, and nearly straight" His eyes
are very small, and as useful to him by
|
pointed, and tipped with few bristles,
which, with a tuft at the end of his tail,
make up all the semblance of hair he
possesses.
The length of the horn varies in the
different species, the main horn of the
| kaboba exceeding four feet, while that
OF the mOOhOOho is seldom over two
feet. In all cases, among the double
| horned naI hot 10
to say, the one nearest the forehead
is always short, not often more than six
| inches.
There are many singular supersti-
tons regarding the horn of the rhi-
noceros, which is not as valuable for its
| ivory as that from the elephant. Rhi-
noceros-horn shavingS are supposed by
many people to cure certain diseases,
and it is believed that if poison be
poured in cup made of the horn, it
will burst it. A German writer SAYS:
'ThiS horn will not endure the touch
of poison; | have often been a witness
of this. Many people of fashion at the
Cape have cups turned out of the rhi-
nocerOs horn; some have them set in sill
yer, and some in gold. If wine is
poured into one of these cups it i'm
mediately rises and bubbles up as
though it were boiling, and if there is
poison in it. the cup Immediately splits.
If poison is put by itself into one of
these cups, it in an instant flies to
pieces. The chips made in turning
one of these cups are ever carefully
saved and returned to the owner of the
cup, being esteemed OF great benefit in
commissions, Paintings, and many other
complaints"
As to whether the horn of the rhinoc-
eros is such test for poison, the reader
may safely doubt; but it can make little
difference, since it is hardly probable
he cares either for the wine or the poi
son, and has no need of such sensitive
drinking cup.
Clumsy-looking as the great brute is,
Mr.. Gordon Cumming says "a horse
and rider can rarely manage to over
take him" Another famous African
hunter writes: "He is not often pur-
sued on horseback, and chiefly because
his speed and endurance are such that
it is very difficult to come up with and
follow him, to say nothing of the dan
ger attendant on such course. Many
hunter indeed, has thereby endan-
gered his life"
One of the most singular of attend
ants is that which the rhinoceros has.
1t is little bird called
by ornithologists Ruphaga africaaa,
and known to hunters as the
rhinoceros bird. This little fellow
clings to the animals hide by means of
its long claws and elastic tail, feeding
on the insects that infest the leathery
skin. In doing this it renders great
service to the huge brute, but trifling
as compared to its other duty. 1t acts
as sentinel to warn its movable feeding
place of approaching danger. While
it is eating it is ever on the alert, and
at the first sign of the hunter it flies up
ia the air uttering its warning note,
which is ever quickly needed, the rhi-
noceros starting Off at once in the direc-
ton taken by its watchful friend. Mr..
Cumming states that when the rhi-
| noceros is asleep, and the bird, hearing
the approach OF the hunter, fails to
awaken him by its voice, it will arouse
hin, Ex- ,,ooEincr bo ,pS;Io 1fL ;s-aor