 Reference Base  Large game shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, Northern an... |
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Kinloch, A.A.A., 1892. Large game shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, Northern and Central India. London, pp. i-viii, 1-291
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| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Distribution |
| Species: |
Javan Rhino |
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[200-201]
The Javan or Sunderbun Rhinoceros — Rhinoceros Sondaicus.
This comparatively little-known Rhinoceros is still tolerably abundant in the Sunderbuns or Gangetic Delta, where it inhabits the swampy islands near the sea face. It is also found, but rarely, in the Sikkim Terai, where, I believe its existence was not known for certain until I recognized it in 1878.
It is sometimes known as the Lesser Indian Rhinoceros, but when full-grown it is little, if at all, inferior in size to the other species. It may be recognized by the different arrangement of the heavy folds of the skin, by the somewhat slenderer head, and above all, by the curious tesselated appearance of the hide, which is very different from the tuberculated armour of Rhinoceros Unicornis.
The female has no vestige of a horn.
In May 1878, I was hunting not far from the left bank of the Ti'sta river, with two friends, S. and L. One day we had pitched our camp at a place where we were told that Rhinoceros were to be found, and had spent the whole morning in a fruitless search for them. That there were ' Rhino ' in the neighbourhood was evident from the fresh tracks, so we went out again in the afternoon. After beating through a considerable extent of forest, we came to a wide grassy plain, and while crossing it, we roused a ' Rhino ' out of a muddy watercourse. We did not catch sight of it, but the disturbed state of the water showed that it had just left, and we presently heard it moving through the high grass. We had not much difficulty in tracking, and in about a mile we overtook the ' Rhino,' which turned to gaze at us. S. fired and crippled it, and knocked it over with a second shot.
Our Elephants, which were all nervous untrained animals, refused to go near the fallen ' Rhino,' and as we endeavoured to force them in the proper direction, a calf, which we had not previously observed, rushed through the grass. L., who could not see how small it was, fired at once, and struck the poor little beast, which uttered a loud scream. This was too much for the nerves of S.'s Elephant, which at once bolted at full speed in the direction of the sal forest, which he was only prevented from entering (to the imminent risk of his rider) by the Mahout's throwing a blanket over his eyes. In the meantime L. and I were endeavouring to find the calf, but though we dismount- ed from our demoralized Elephants, and hunted for it on foot, we could find no trace of it in the heavy grass.
On going to examine our prize, I at once recognized it as R. Sondaicus ; and on telling the natives who were with us that this was not the ordinary Rhinoceros, they informed me that they were aware that there were two kinds. A Goorkha who was with me filled a soda water bottle with the milk of the dead Rhinoceros : I had the curiosity to taste it, and found it excellent.
S. had some very handsome shields and trays made from the hide ; which, when dried and polished, looks like tortoise-shell.
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