Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
there is reason to believe may have been recently carried into other islands by man. Three
species which have a tolerably wide range in the Archipelago, are—1, The curious Lemur,
Tarsius spectrum, which is found in all the islands as far westward as Malacca; 2, the com-
mon Malay Civet, Viverra tangalunga, which has a still wider range; and 3, a Deer, which
seems to be the same as the Rusa hippelaphus of Java, and was probably introduced by man
at an early period.
The more characteristic species are as follow:—
Cynopithecus nigrescens, a curious baboon-like monkey if not a true baboon, which
abounds all over Celebes, and is found nowhere else but in the one small island of Batchian,
into which it has probably been introduced accidentally. An allied species is found in the
Philippines, but in no other island of the Archipelago is there anything resembling them.
These creatures are about the size of a spaniel, of a jet-black colour, and have the projecting
dog-like muzzle and overhanging brows of the baboons. They have large red callosities and
a short fleshy tail, scarcely an inch long and hardly visible. They go in large bands, living
chiefly in the trees, but often descending on the ground and robbing gardens and orchards.
Anoa depressicornis, the Sapi-utan, or wild cow of the Malays, is an animal which has
been the cause of much controversy, as to whether it should be classed as ox, buffalo, or
antelope. It is smaller than any other wild cattle, and in many respects seems to approach
some of the ox-like antelopes of Africa. It is found only in the mountains, and is said never
to inhabit places where there are deer. It is somewhat smaller than a small Highland cow,
and has long straight horns, which are ringed at the base and slope backwards over the neck.
The wild pig seems to be of a species peculiar to the island; but a much more curious an-
imal of this family is the Babirusa or Pig-deer, so named by the Malays from its long and
slender legs, and curved tusks resembling horns. This extraordinary creature resembles a pig
in general appearance, but it does not dig with its snout, as it feeds on fallen fruits. The tusks
of the lower jaw are very long and sharp, but the upper ones instead of growing downwards
in the usual way are completely reversed, growing upwards out of bony sockets through the
skin on each side of the snout, curving backwards to near the eyes, and in old animals often
reaching eight or ten inches in length. It is difficult to understand what can be the use of
these extraordinary horn-like teeth. Some of the old writers supposed that they served as
hooks, by which the creature could rest its head on a branch. But the way in which they usu-
ally diverge just over and in front of the eye has suggested the more probable idea, that they
serve to guard these organs from thorns and spines, while hunting for fallen fruits among the
tangled thickets of rattans and other spiny plants. Even this, however, is not satisfactory, for
the female, who must seek her food in the same way, does not possess them. I should be in-
