M.D., 1872. Arrival of a two-horned rhinoceros. Land and Water 13 (1872 January 20): 47
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Captivity |
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Sumatran Rhino |
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Land and Water, 20 Jan 1872, vol. 13, p.47
Arrival of a two horned rhinoceros
When Capt. Frederick Hood was engaged at the Keddahs at Chittagong, on the Malabar coast, in buying elephants for the government of India, news was brought him by the natives of the capture, about 25 miles from his station, of a double horned rhinoceros. He at once started with eight elephants to bring the rhinoceros to Chittagong. He found her fastened to a tree, and at once secured her with ropes between two elephants. The difficulty of bringing her was very great, as during the journey, whenever she came in the neighbourhood of water or morass, she at once struggled to get free, and on several occasions succeeded in getting away and rushing into the mud, buried herself up to the snout. The difficulty then was to know how to extricate her from have chosen position, and here we have an excellent instance of the extraordinary sagacity, almost amounting to reason, on the part of an elephant. When Capt Hood was wondering by what means he could succeed in extricating the rhinoceros from the mass of mud, in which she had embedded herself, a female elephant of more than usual intelligence, that was one of the guides, quietly walked into the morass and placed herself behind the rhinoceros, applied her gigantic forehead to the animal, and forcibly pushed her clean out of the morass. On reaching Chittagong she was placed in a stockade, when she was extremely restless for many days. Capt Hood believed that there was something more than bare and easiness at the confinement that rendered her so restless. He told one of the natives to feed her with sugarcane, of which she was particularly fond, whilst he entered the stockade to examine her. The result of the inspection was that he found two large ulcers in a terrible condition beneath each shoulder, the sores being formed by the cutting off the ropes. He at once proceeded to cleanse these wounds, and to dress them, which he did for several days, until the animal quite recovered, and her gratitude and tameness to him can only be paralleled by Androcles and the Lion. From that time she was a most interesting pet (the name given her is Begum), although of a very large size, and would allow herself to be ridden about. Mr Jamrachâs son, who went out purposely to purchase her from captain Hood, is just around home with her safe and sound. M.D.
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Arrival of a two-horned rhinoceros
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