Next day we climbed the Slamat, on which slopes there is a village called Priatin at 4000 ft. The climb would be much more difficult without the tracks of the rhinoceroses, which in easy curves wind up to the summit of the mountain. These animals must be very common here, as we saw a lot of their tracks. They live in the west of Java, and the Slamat is the eastern boundary of their area of distribution.
Java. The skin of the rhinoceros has different uses. As a shield, it cannot be penetrated by bullets of musquets. The Chinese use it as medicine. The horn in Java is seen as effective against snake bite, not only by locals, but even educated Europeans are so sure of its effectiveness that they usually carry a small piece of horn with them on their travels, believing that the poison will surely be absorbed when the porous mass is laid on it.
Next day we climbed the Slamat, on which slopes there is a village called Priatin at 4000 ft. The climb would be much more difficult without the tracks of the rhinoceroses, which in easy curves wind up to the summit of the mountain. These animals climb the highest mountains to obtain their favourite grass. Nobody makes better paths than they do. As they always follow the same paths, the thick leather on their belly and the sand attached to it rub against the ground and slowly deep furrows are carved in the ground, even in stone. No less wonderful is their sense of topographical tact, by which they circumvent all difficult places in the terrain, steep patches are conquered by zigzag lines. This miracle is explained by the ineptness of the animals who cannot reach difficult places.
The rhinoceros is shy and rarely seen. Still there are cases when it has attacked people, possibly when it is ready for mating.
