|
|
|||||||
being ill over christmas found a book again I got Bengt Berg's "My hunt for the Unicorn", german edition printed in 1933,happen in India in 1932 Berg was one of the early wild life photographer and he shows there the first pictures of the indian one horned rhino made in wilderness. it was special than he use tripping hazard camera but the flash light was still the old flash powder - blackpowder + magnesium - what start some times a good jungle fire. Berg mention two guns: a pardox double for daily jungle walks and 470 NE when he shooting a tigress so it was without a doubt he had this combination gun in the camp in bengal. the indian rhino was then down to some hundred because of - you know it- poacher gangs who shoot them to sell the horn to chinese dealer. the main use in china was than to make it into cups for wealthy chinese madarins because it should show poison in the drink by froth up. african rhino was not seen as the real stuff than and the dealer would not like to have this as surrogate because the mighty customer want the real stuff. happen in bengal close to the border of bhutan Mister Shebbeare, a fine english sportsman than the forrest commissioner of bengal and responsible for the saving of the indian rhino the work of the local rhino poacher they came close to exterminate the rhino than, chinese had the fingers everywhere when only one rhino was around. the price for a rhino horn the poacher got from the first dealer was 3000 rupees what was a fortune for a common indian then. you can imagine how the price of the horn going up from hand to hand until it reach the chinese customer. the track of this maneater of madarihat who was feared from bhutan to bengal |