if M NATURAL SCIENCE. March, 



or they will stay perfectly still in one corner till the hind legs become 

 callused at the joints, and even paralysed. They become very 

 tame, but sometimes fight together, biting each other's ears and 

 noses. The males can also give sharp cuts with their long, sharp 

 canine teeth. They eat sliced sweet potatoes, and almost any green 

 vegetable. Sometimes they do a good deal of damage to garden 

 crops, and are rather troublesome. 



The Napu varies somewhat in colour, and I have had some 

 specimens which were remarkably bright chestnut on the back. 

 These came, I was told, from Rhio, south of Singapore. They 

 appeared so distinct in colouring that it is possible that they may 

 belong to a distinct species. 



The Kanchil (Tragulus hanchil) is a much smaller, perfectly brown 

 animal. It is supposed to be very cunning and plays the part of 

 Brer Rabbit in Malay folklore, but I never saw anything in its 

 behaviour to justify its reputation. The natives state that there is a 

 third species which is called Pelandok, intermediate in size between 

 the two ; but the name is also used vaguely for either species, and if 

 there is a third species here, I have either not seen it or failed to 

 distinguish it. 



The Napu breeds in confinement, producing one or two at a 

 birth. It appears to have a long period of gestation, for one that had 

 been for some months in an enclosure without a male unexpectedly 

 produced a young one. 



The Kijang {Cervulus muntjac) does not occur now in Singapore, if 

 it ever did. It is abundant in many places, such as the slopes of 

 Mount Ophir, and is often shot by planters and others in and about 

 the coffee plantations. Very little is known of its habits. 



The Rusa {Cervus cquinus) is common in the Peninsula, and a 

 few still occur in Singapore ; but most have been killed by sportsmen. 

 It inhabits the open country and small woods. I have, however, seen 

 the tracks of a big deer quite at the top of Mount Ophir, at 4,000 ft. 

 elevation. As the animal seems to avoid paths when possible, it is 

 comparatively rare to find its tracks, while those of tiger, pig, mouse- 

 deer, ox, tapir, rhinoceros, and elephant are all conspicuous whenever 

 one is in the district where they abound. It feeds at dusk and dawn, 

 remaining quietly in the woods during the day. It is often kept in 

 captivity, and sometimes breeds ; but the buck is rarely safe in the 

 rutting season, and sometimes becomes then most dangerous. A fine 

 example in the Botanic Gardens, though brought up from a fawn, on 

 one occasion attacked the coolie who was giving it water, and tossed 

 him over the palisade of its enclosure, inflicting severe wounds on 

 him, and later succeeded in forcing its way into an adjoining paddock, 

 where a black buck was kept, which it killed by one thrust of its antler. 

 The young are produced singly, and are coloured like the adult, but 

 with much softer hair. There are, however, faint traces of light spots 

 on the rump, which disappear after the first week. 



