CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION iii 



rats, mice, and bats ; while, as already said, their birds 

 include cassowaries, cockatoos, birds of paradise, bower- 

 birds, and a host of other kinds more or less completely 

 unknown in the regions to the westward. 



But, unfortunately, there is another element in the 

 problem which introduces a further complexity. The 

 Malays are bold and clever sailors, fond of voyaging from 

 island to island in these summer seas. And they are also 

 wonderful adepts in taming animals of various kinds. 

 Many of these they carry about with them in their 

 voyages — some probably for food and others as pets. 

 When they land on a strange island some of these animals 

 may occasionally escape, or possibly may be turned loose 

 intentionally. Now there is a very considerable probability 

 that the wild pigs of Ceram and New Guinea have been 

 thus introduced ; and if this be the case, the fauna of the 

 Australasian region is made more absolutely distinct from 

 that of the Oriental province. The deer of the Moluccas 

 and Timor present a case of greater difficulty; but as the 

 Moluccas cannot well be separated from the Australasian 

 region, they would seem, in these islands at least, to have 

 been introduced, and, if so, the same will hold good with 

 regard to certain smaller mammals of an Oriental type, 

 such as civets. 



We are now in a position to consider how the animals 

 of Celebes compare with those of the neighbouring islands. 

 Now, the only mammals of a purely Australian type found 

 in that island are two species of cuscuses — sleepy creatures, 

 with beautifully soft fur, often very brilliantly coloured, 

 and showing great individual or sexual variation in the 

 markings. They are near relatives of the so-called 

 opossums (phalangers) of Australia, and are entirely arboreal 

 creatures, passing the day comfortably coiled up in slumber 



