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TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS.

TuerE are, in all, seven or eight species of the
animals of this genus; three of them natives of Asia,
and, either three or four, of Africa.

When full-grown, the length of this creature is about
twelve feet, and it is of about the same circumference.
Its colour is a dark greyish brown, and its hide is
extremely thick and hard, resembling the rough bark
of a tree. In the “Account of the Menageries,” we
find the following statement respecting it:—‘‘The rhi-
noceros is more rapid in its movements than its comparatively
clumsy and massive appearance would, at first sight,
induce one to expect.” “The Onamese,” Lieutenant
White tells us, “speak with great energy of its irresistible
strength and velocity. Speaking of this animal one day
to the viceroy, he observed, ‘you now see him here
before you in Saigon,’ and snapping his fingers, ‘now he
is in Canjeo.’”

However hyperbolical these accounts appear to be, we
may yet infer from them, that the rhinoceros can exert
great strength and speed. In a state of nature the
rhinoceros leads a calm but indolent life; sluggish in
habitual movements, he wanders along with a heavy
measured step, carrying his huge head low, so that his
nose almost touches the ground, and stopping at intervals
to uproot, with his horns, some favourite food, or in
playful wantonness to plough up the ground, throwing
the mud and stones behind him. As he passes through
the tangled coverts, every obstacle gives way before his
strength, and his track is said to be often marked by