Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/766

742 742 INDIA [ANIMALS. India the elephant has been gradually exterminated, being only found now in the primaeval forests of Coorg, Mysore, and Travaucore, and in the tributary states of Orissa. It still exists in considerable number along the tardi or sub montane fringe of the Himalayas. The main source of supply at the present time is the confused mass of hills which forms the north-east boundary of British India, from Assam to Burmah. Two varieties are there distinguished, the gunda or tusker, and the makna or hine, which has no tusks. The reports of the height of the elephant, like those of its intelligence, seem to be exaggerated. The maxi mum is probably 12 feet. If hunted, the elephant must be attacked on foot, and the sport is therefore dangerous, especially as the animal has but few parts vulnerable to a bullet. The regular mode of catching elephants is by means of a kheda or gigantic stockade, into which a wild herd is driven, then starved into submission, and tamed by animals already domesticated. The practice of captur ing them in pitfalls is discouraged as cruel and wasteful. Elephants now form a Government monopoly everywhere in India. The shooting of them is prohibited, except when they become dangerous to man or destructive to the crops ; and the right of capturing them is only leased out upon conditions. A special law, under the title of &quot; The Ele phants Preservation Act&quot; (No. VI. of 1379), regulates this licensing system. Whoever kills, captures, or injures an ele phant, or attempts to do so, without a licence, is punishable by a fine of 500 rupees for the first offence ; and a similar fine, together with six months imprisonment, for a second offence. In the year 1877-78 a total of two hundred and sixty-four elephants were captured in the province of Assam, yielding to Government a revenue of 3600. In the season of 1873-74 no less than fifty-three were captured at one time by Mr Sanderson, the superintendent of the Kheda Department in Mysore, who has made a special study of the Indian elephant, as Sir S. Baker has of the same animal in Ceylon. Though the supply is decreas ing, elephants continue to be in great demand. Their chief use is in the timber trade, and for Government trans port. They are also bought up by native chiefs at high Uhinoce- prices for purposes of ostentation. Of the rhinoceros, four ros - distinct varieties are enumerated, two with a single and two with a double horn. The most familiar is the Rhinoceros nnicornis, commonly found in the Brahmaputra valley and in the Sundarbans. It has but one horn, and is covered with massive folds of naked skin. It sometimes attains a height of 6 feet ; its horn, which is much prized by the natives for medicinal purposes, seldom exceeds 14 inches in length. It frequents swampy, shady spots, and wallows in mud like a pig. The inveterate antipathy of the rhinoceros to the elephant seems to be mythical. The Javan rhinoceros (R. sondaicus) is found in the same localities. It also has but one horn, and mainly differs from the foregoing in being smaller, and having less prominent &quot;shields.&quot; The Sumatran rhino ceros (R. sumatrensis) is found from Chittagong southwards through Burmah. It has two horns and a bristly coat. The hairy-eared rhinoceros (R. lasiotis) is only known from a specimen captured at Chittagong. Wild The wild hog (Sus scrofa, var. indica) is well known as Ilo 3- affording the most exciting sport in the world &quot; pig sticking.&quot; It frequents cultivated situations, and is tlio most mischievous enemy of the villager. A rare animal, called the pigmy hog (Porculia salviania), exists in the tardi of Nepal and Sikkim, and has been shot in Assam. Its height is only 10 inches, and its weight does not exceed 12 Ib. Wild ass. The wild ass (Asinus onager} is confined to the sandy deserts of Sind and Kachhch (ditch), where, from its speed and timidity, it is almost unapproachable. Many wild species of the sheep and goat tribe are to be found in the Himalayan ranges. The Ovis ammon and She 0. poli are Tibetan rather than Indian species. The urial & ^ and the shapu are kindred species of wild sheep, found ^ oa respectively in Ladakh and the Sulaiman range. The former comes down to 2000 feet above the sea, the latter is never seen at altitudes lower than 12,000 feet. The barhal, or blue wild sheep, and the markhur and tahr (both wild goats) also inhabit the Himalayas. A variety of the ibex is also found there, as well as in the highest ranges of southern India. The sarau (Nemorhasdus rubida), allied to the chamois, has a wide range in the mountains of the north, from the Himalayas to Assam and Burmah. The antelope tribe is represented by comparatively few An species, as compared with the great number peculiar to Africa. The antelope proper (Antilope bezoartica), the a black buck &quot; of sportsmen, is very generally distributed. Its special habitat is salt plains, as on the coast-line of Guzerat and Orissa, where herds of fifty does may be seen, accompanied by a single buck. The doe is of a light fawn colour, and has no horns. The colour of the buck is a deep brown-black above, sharply marked off from the white of the belly. His spiral horns, twisted for three or four turns like a corkscrew, often reach the length of 30 inches. The flesh is dry and unsavoury, but is permitted meat for Hindus, even of the Brahman caste. The nilgai or blue cow (Portax picta) is also widely distributed, but specially abounds in Hindustan Proper and Guzerat. As with the antelope, the male alone has the dark blue colour. The nilgai is held peculiarly sacred by Hindus, from its fancied kinship to the cow, and on this account its destructive inroads upon the crops are tolerated. The four-horned antelope (Tetraceros guadricornis) and the gazelle (Gaztlla bennetti) are also found in India. The chiru (Pantholops hodgsoni) is confined to the Himalayan plateaus. The king of the deer tribe is thesdmbhar orgcrau (RusaTb aristotelis), erroneously called &quot; elk &quot; by sportsmen. It is found on the forest-clad hills in all parts of the country. It is of a deep-brown colour, with hair on its neck almost like a mane; and it stands nearly 5 feet high, with spread ing antlers nearly 3 feet in length. Next in size is the swamp deer or bara-singha, signifying &quot; twelve points&quot; (Rucervus duvaucelli), which is common in Lower Bengal, and Assam. The chitdl or spotted deer (Axis maculata) is generally admitted to be the most beautiful inhabitant of the Indian jungles. Other species include the hog deer (Cervus pordmts), the barking deer or muntjac (Ceiirulut vaginalis), and the mouse deer (Meminna indica). The musk deer (Mosckus moschiferus) is confined to Tibet. The ox tribe is represented in India by some of its B noblest species. The gaur (Rtbos gaurus), the &quot; bison &quot; of sportsmen, is found in all the hill jungles of the country, in the Western Ghats, in Central India, in Assam, and in British Burmah. This animal sometimes attains the height of 20 hands (close on 7 feet), measuring from the hump above the shoulder. Its short curved horns and skull are enormously massive. Its colour is dark chestnut, or coffee- brown. From the difficult nature of its habitat, and from the ferocity with which it charges an enemy, the pursuit of the bison is no less dangerous and no less exciting than that of the tiger or the elephant. Akin to the gmir, though not identical, are the gaydl or milhan (B. frontalis), con fined to the hills of the north-east frontier, where it is domesticated for sacrificial purposes by the aboriginal tribes, atid the tsine or banting (B. sondaicus), found in Burmah. The wild buffalo (Bubahis ami) differs from the tame 13i buffalo only in being larger and more fierce. The finest specimens come from Assam and Burmah. The horns of the bull are thicker than those of the cow, but the horns of the cow are larger. A head has been known to measure 13 feet 6 inches in circumference, and G feet 6 inches