NOTES ON THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF SARAWAK. 207 



Dragon's blood, the red resin found on the fruits of a Dannonorops 

 (Rattan). 



Camphor, found in the cavities of the wood of a Dryobalanops (a 

 Dipterocarp). 



Dammar, a resin from the Agathis and various other trees, prin- 

 cipally Dipterocarps. 



Ironwood, exceedingly heavy and dense from the tree Eusider- 

 oxylon zwageri (Laurineee). 



And formerly Cutch, an extract from mangrove bark {Briigitiera 

 spp., etc.). 



Having thus briefly surveyed the general conditions of vegetable 

 life in Sarawak, we may now undertake a comparison between the 

 fauna of that country and of South Africa. It is familiar to all 

 that the animal world is absolutely dependent directly or indirectly 

 for its very ex-stence upon the plant life of the environment, and 

 consequently the fauna and flora of a country are closely correlated 

 together. Some of the most marked differences between the 

 faunas of the two areas are to be explained simply as a result of 

 the profound dissimilarity of floral conditions, but, as every student 

 of geographical distribution of animals knows, such considerations 

 will not explain all the curious facts of distribution. 



In Sarawak there is a very noticeable absence of the larger 

 mammalia, particularly the Ungulata ; all that Borneo has to 

 compare with the fleet herds of gazelles and buck and gnu, the 

 zebras, the giraffes and the buffalo comprised in a list of no less 

 than forty species of large game,* is the rusa deer {Cenms equimis), 

 the Bos banteng, the small Cervulus muntjac and the tiny chevro- 

 tains [Tragidus). And whereas South Africa can boast of the 

 stately lion, the leopard and the cheetah, the Felidse of Borneo 

 {Felts hengalensis, F. planiceps, F. nehidosus) are comparatively 

 small and insignificant, as their prey is also small. And of Canidae 

 (jackals and foxes) and Hyaenas, Sarawak has no examples ; on 

 the other hand, bears, which are absent from South Africa, are 

 represented in the Bornean jungles by the small honey bear, which, 

 in its search for honey, climbs to the top of the giant jungle trees. 



But whilst there is a great scarcity of swift-footed terrestrial 

 mammals, Sarawak has a rich fauna of arboreal forms : in this 

 categorv are included the anthropoid apes {Simia satyrus and 

 Hylobates), the various monkeys {Macacus and Semnopithecus) — 

 Sarawak has no baboons — the Nycticebus, the Tarsius, the lemur- 

 like GalcEopitheciis, the numerous bats, the squirrels, the Tiipaias, 

 and the civet cats, one species even being provided with a prehensile 

 tail [Arctidis binturong). And it is noteworthy that quite a 

 number of these have developed expansions of the skin which 

 enable them to fly, as, for example, the numerous bats — the com- 

 mon flying fox (Pteropus edide) attains a very large size, having 

 an expanse of 4 or 5 feet — the various species of flying squirrel and 

 the Galccopithecus volans. 



As for the Rodents, an order represented in South Africa by 

 numerous forms, most of them terrestrial, they are comparatively 

 rare in Borneo, the squirrels excepted ; and of burrowing mam- 



* Borneo has probably less than 20 species of Ungulata all told. 



