24 NATURAL SCIENCE. Jan., 



haunted by numerous mammals ; and it is surprising how difficult it 

 is to see or get near to the larger ones, how close they lie hidden in the 

 bushes or fern, how quietly they slip off when disturbed. You may 

 ramble through the woods and, except for the cries of the monkeys 

 and the twittering of the squirrels and tupaias, you will not be aware 

 of any mammals within the jungle. The best times for observing the 

 jungle denizens are the early morning and the dusk. Then all are 

 brisk and on the alert. The wild pigs are making onslaughts on the 

 pine-apple and tapioca fields, the deer come out to crop the shrubs 

 on the edge of the woods, the tiger is moving quietly through 

 the bushes in pursuit of the pigs and deers, the weird loris is 

 creeping towards the banana trees, the large red flying squirrel is 

 taking its surprising leaps from one lofty free to another, the monkeys 

 are squabbling for the best seats on the branches, the great fox-bats 

 are flapping slowly overhead, and the civet cats are climbing briskly 

 about on the trees in pursuit of roosting birds, or trotting off to the 

 coffee bushes and fruit trees in search of fruits. The greater part of 

 the Malayan mammals are nocturnal, the vegetarians to avoid the 

 carnivores, the latter to chase the vegetarians. 



Primates : — There are two or possibly three kinds of monkeys 

 indigenous to Singapore. The commonest is Macacus cynomolgus, 

 called, from its cry, the Kra, a very common monkey in the more open 

 parts of the woods, seldom going into the larger tracts of jungles. 

 They travel about in small flocks, living chiefly on fruits, and often 

 descending to the ground to pick up those that are fallen. They are 

 very amusing pets, being very intelligent and easily tamed. They 

 breed readily in confinement, producing one young one a year. It is 

 commonly stated that no monkey stands flat on the sole of its feet ; 

 indeed, this has been cited as an important difference between man 

 and the quadrumana. It is true that the anthropoid apes do not do 

 so, but they are strictly arboreal and never descend to the ground, so 

 that their feet are adapted for grasping firmly ; whereas in the smaller 

 monkeys which often come down to the ground the soles are flatter. 

 The Kra may often be seen walking for a short distance erect on the 

 flat of its foot, its arms hanging by its sides. The only difference 

 between this walk and that of man is that the great toe stands at an 

 angle with the sole. All that I have seen doing this have either been 

 the leaders of a troop or exceptionally intelligent monkeys. The Kra 

 has a more extensive vocabulary than most of the other monkeys, 

 having apparently distinctive cries for all events that may occur in 

 its jungle life : thus the alarm-signal for a tiger is quite distinguishable 

 from that for a man or dog. In this respect the smaller monkeys are 

 very different from the oriental anthropoids, which have a very limited 

 vocabulary. 



The Kra will not admit strangers into the family troop without 

 a fight. If a female is put into the same cage with a number of 

 other Kras, the other females will attack and bite her ; if a male, he 



