Hood, F.H., 1869. The Sumatran rhinoceros. Oriental Sporting Magazine (new series) 2 (15, March): 167-169, pl. 1
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Asia - South Asia - India |
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Distribution |
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Sumatran Rhino |
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THE SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS.
The accompanying is a sketch (taken by Lieutenant Banbury, of the Commissariat Department) of a female double-horned rhinoceros, of the Sumatran species, which came into my possession in November, 1867, at Chittagong.
The animal in question was captured by some villagers on the Sungoo river, close to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, from whence it had probably strayed, doubtless attracted by the ripening paddy-fields. It became involved in a quick sand, or bog, in which it fell an easy prey to the natives, who threw a noose over its head, hauled it out, and tied it securely to a neighbouring tree. Some two hundred of them, I believe, were engaged in this interesting operation. Some of the headmen of the village then came into the station with the news of having captured a strange janwar, whose name they were unacquainted with, but described as something between an elephant and a pig! They also said that if some of the sahib logue did not come out and take it away, they should shoot it, as they were much afraid, and did not know what to do with such an extraordinary animal. Anxious to secure the prize, I started that evening with all the available elephants in the station - some eight in all. By making a forced march over a dillicult country, I reached the scene of action - some 30 miles distant - on the evening of the following day. True enough, there was a strange janwar bound to the tree, and a veritable Sumatran rhinoceros into the bargain.
The difficulties attendant on taking the beast in tow, between frightened elephants, who at first could not be pursuaded to venture within 20 yards of it, I regret, I have not time to describe; neither the trouble experienced en route crossing the various rivers and boggy places, &c. I may here mention that a friend who accompanied me as a spectator afforded me much assistance, more particularly in the Commissariat Department.
Suffice it to say, for the present, that I reached Chittagong on the sixth day with my prize in safety, but a good deal cut about the neck from the chafing of the ropes. A stockade was quickly run up for her, and a small tank extemporised in it. After a few days, her wounds healed rapidly, and she became so tame, that I would frequently go into the stockade, where she was quite loose, and apply the dressings in her sores. At first her appetite was most capricious, and she would only eat plantains and pieces of sugarcane, disposing of vast quantities [168] of the former and never appearing satisfied. This, however, was beyond a joke, as her daily feeding expenses were Rs. 2 per diem! so we gradually made experiments with the various kinds of charra (fodder) to which elephants are accustomed, and at last succeeded in discovering her tastes, which lie chiefly in the direction of burgot, peepul, and plantain leaves. She has also a daily ration of six seers of atta, made into chuppattees and mixed up with goor. Occasionally her diet is varied with plantains and sugarcane, both of which she is inordinately fond of, and will stow away any known quantity.
Begum - for such is her name, and she answers to it readily - is a full-grown female Sumatran rhinoceros, apparently young, for she is cutting her incisor teeth, and stands just 4ft. 4in. [132 cm] at the shoulder. In length she is nearly 7 ft, to the root of her tail. Her bulk is tremendous, and her skin, when clean, is quite pink, with black bristles sparsely distributed over it. She has the plait behind the shoulders -peculiar to the species - and another in front of her hind limbs, but no shields, as the R. Indicus; and her hide is smooth throughout. Her anterior born, when I first obtained her, was some three inches in height, and the posterior one about two inches. The former she has worn much away from rubbing it against the palings of her stockade, but it has developed considerably at the base.
It is not generally known amongst sportsmen in India, I believe, that there are two varieties of the one-horned rhinoceros in India; but such is the case. The animal peculiar to Indo-Chinese countries, Malayan Peninsula, and Bengal Sunderbuns, is, according to Z., a learned correspondent of Land and Water, identical with that of Java, i.e. R. Sondaicus. The two species resemble each other “so nearly, that few sportsmen would distinguish them apart, unless upon actual comparison. The Burmese rhinoceros (one-horned one) is about one-third smaller than the common Indian one peculiar to Assam and the Terai. An easy distinction consists in a fold of skin at the base of the neck, which crosses the neck above in R. Sondaicus, but in R. Indicus curves backward across the shoulder to join the great shoulderplait, which is alike in both species.” The two-horned R. Sumatrensis is not uncommon in the Indo-Chinese countries and Malyan Peninsula, but is seldom found, by all accounts, in the immediate neighborhood of R. Sondaicus.
Many years ago, I believe, a specimen was obtained by some natives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, but it was badly wounded, and did not live.* (Note: The native who told me this could not, however, be certain that it was a double-horned rhinoceros; but he thought it was. Captain Lewin, the Deputy Commissioner of the Hill Tracts, informed me that he has heard of the existence of these animals in the hills, and has seen their tracks, but never met with the animals themselves.)
No living specimen has ever reached Europe; but I hear there is a skeleton of an adult in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in England. The Zoological Society at home are desirous of possessing Begum to complete their collection, and have written me to this effect; but as they steadily decline to bear any of the cost of [169] passage, or risk, and merely offer a certain sum for her on delivery in good condition in London, we have not, up to the present, been able “to come to terms.”
F.H. Hood, Captain, Bengal Staff Corps.
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The Sumatran rhinoceros
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