By Tim Binnall
A Cornish man made a rather curious discovery in the form of a mysterious rhino horn that had somehow wound up in a cave near his home. According to a local media report, John Roundhill stumbled upon the peculiar object (seen below) while showing some friends the cavern, which is something of a legendary spot in the village of Polperro as it was once the haunting grounds of infamous 18th century smuggler Willy Wilcox. Initially thinking that the odd find was perhaps a piece of wood or a horse's hoof, he subsequently showed it to a friend who had lived in Africa and learned that, in fact, it was a rhino's horn that had been sawed off of the unfortunate creature.
"I was astounded, frankly, that it was here," Roundhill recalled, while noting that he was also "a little disgusted" by the horn's gruesome origin. "It's certainly the first time I have ever discovered anything remotely like this on the beach," he marveled. While it is possible that the horn could have floated into the cave during a recent high tide, he observed that it does not appear to be particularly weathered nor does it have any barnacles or algae on it, which has ultimately left him wondering how exactly it wound up in the cavern. To his credit, rather than keep the horn as an unusual souvenir, Roundhill dutifully turned the object over to police, who will be enlisting an animal welfare group to dispose of it properly.