lxiv MAMMALOGY OF THE HIMALAYAS. 
whilst the Carnivora of Africa have found their way freely into the neighbouring Continent, those of 
India have never passed the Arabian desert. I do not pretend to account for this. Perhaps it may 
depend upon the physical character of the two Continents, and the influence which this circumstance 
exerts in modifying the nature and habits of their respective inhabitants. The Lion of the burning 
Sahara, for instance, like the wild Taurick or Bedoween of the same regions, would find the parched 
deserts of Syria and Persia no barrier to his progress towards the East ; whilst, on the other hand, the 
Tiger of the moist jungles of Bengal could no more pass the arid plains of Arabia than the puny and 
luxurious Hindoo, accustomed to the same humid soil and atmosphere. But whatever may be its 
cause, the fact itself is as undoubted as it is interesting. ‘The common distribution of the Ratel over 
both Continents has been already mentioned. This animal is spread over the whole of Africa; it is 
common in every part of the Cape colony, and Denham and Clapperton brought it from Bornou ; 
and though its geographical limits have not been accurately ascertained in Asia, we know that it abounds 
on the plains of Northern India, which do not differ much in their physical structure from the Karroos 
of South Africa. So likewise the Lion (Felis Leo), the Leopard or Panther, for they are both the 
same species (Felis Pardus and Leopardus), the Cheetah (Felis jubata), the Persian and Red-eared 
Lynxes (Felis Caracal and Felis Chaus), the striped Hyena (Hyena virgata), and the Jackall (Canis 
aureus), all pre-eminently African species, are found in most parts of India, without offering any 
striking variety cither in form or colour; whilst the Tigers, Wolves, Paradoxures, &c. of the latter 
country have never passed far to the west of the Indus, and some of these are even without generic 
representation on the Continent of Africa: nor is it less singular that, as far at least as at present 
known, this migration should have been confined to the Carnivora. There is not a single authen- 
ticated instance of any of the numerous Antelopes in which Africa abounds above all other parts of 
the world, and which nature has peculiarly adapted to inhabit the most parched and arid deserts, having 
crossed the Isthmus of Suez, any more than of the various species of Deer so common throughout the 
whole extent of Asia having migrated in an opposite direction. If the various indications which Mr. 
Hodgson has given of the occurrence of species known to inhabit the great islands of the Indian Archi- 
: pelago, and the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, such as the Benturong (Arctitis albifrons), 
the Malay Bear (Ursus malayanus), and the Javanese Ichneumon (Herpestes javanica), in the 
forests of the Turai, which skirt the southern foot of the Himalayas, should turn out to be correct, (and 
it is certain that Felis minuta and Gulo orientalis are common to both these localities), it would 
appear that India Proper, besides its own appropriate Mammals, is a kind of neutral ground upon 
which the species of the most distant countries to the east and west of it meet and mingle together.* 
One fact, abundantly singular, but which I have never seen accounted for, is the alleged total absence 
of every species of the genus Canis, so numerous and so common throughout all parts of India, in 
Burma, Siam, and those other countries east of the Brahmapootra, which compose the great Malay 
Peninsula. This is a phenomenon well worth the attention of Indian Naturalists. 
As far as regards the occurrence of the Digitigrade Carnivora among the Himalayan Mountains, 
itis certain that the Lion, called Baug by the Indians, ascends the western hills to a very considerable 
elevation. _Mr. Frazer often heard of it during his journey to the sources of the Ganges and J umna,+ 
and Bemier, whilst travelling to Cashmere, in the train of Aurungzebe, had frequent opportunities of 
oe ticceirin Ue chace of this animal: the amusement was reserved for the Emperor alone, and the success 
of 
* See the observations on the distribution of Plants of different countries in India, p. 158. J.F.R. 
+ [beg to observe here, that I frequently made inquiries on this subject, and could never learn anything positive on the subject ; 
nor had any of the numerous sportsmen to whom I spoke on the subject, ever seen a Lion or its skin, obtained from within the 
Himalayas. At seg the Lion i is Ibelieve only found to the west of the Jumna, especially on the edge of the desert, near Hansi. 
J.F.R. 
