601 



ASIA. 



ASIA. 



602 



animal called in India pahria dogs inhabit every village, and without 

 acknowledging any particular master know and obey the inhabitants, 

 warn them of the approach of wild beasts and robbers, and perform 

 the common offices of public scavengers. Legacies are frequently 

 left for their support by the pious Hindoos ; and hospitals are built 

 for the reception and care of the aged and wounded. But besides 

 these public troops which may be considered as the property of the 

 state, there are various varieties of sporting and other dogs kept by 

 private individuals in different parts of Asia ; of which the principal 

 are the large mastiff of Tibet, and the greyhound of Persia. The 

 flesh of the dog is a common article of food in China, aa it formerly 

 was in the islands of the Indian Ocean ; and it is said to be a most 

 amusing sight to the few Europeans who have obtained access to the 

 large cities in the interior of the empire, to witness the antipathy 

 with -which these sagacious animals pursue their enemies the butchers, 

 when they appear in the public streets. 



The cat has always been a favourite domestic among the Asiatics ; 

 and the Mohammedans, in particular, who consider the dog as 

 unclean, lavish all their attention and caresses upon this far less 

 gentle and sagacious animal. In the central plains and table-lands 

 of Asia, in Khorasan, Cashmere, and Bhotan, as well as in Angora 

 and other districts of Asia Minor, the fur of the cat assumes a long 

 silky texture of great beauty and fineness ; and individuals of the 

 esteemed colours are frequently sold for extravagant prices. This is 

 the breed which is often brought to Europe under the name of Persian 

 cats ; they are much more gentle in disposition than our common 

 domestic cat, but are less useful, and decidedly inferior to the dog as 

 a pet or companion. 



Of the wild mammals peculiar to Asia there are, comparatively 

 speaking, a greater variety than in any other portion of the globe. 

 The true apes (Piihecut) are with a single exception, that of the 

 Chimpanzee (P. Troglodytes) of Africa, peculiar to this continent; 

 as are likewise the Semnopitheci, an extensive tribe which differs 

 from them only by the possession of a very long slender tail. Among 

 these latter the Kahau (Semnopithecus nosutus), a large species inha- 

 biting China and the Malayan peninsula, nearly attains to the dimen- 

 sions of man, and is remarkable for a large prominent nose, which 

 assimilates it in general appearance more nearly to the human 

 species than any other of the monkey tribe. The Macaques (M acacia) 

 are likewise a purely Asiatic genus of quadrumana, and appear to 

 supply on this continent the situation which the baboons fill in 

 Africa. They swarm in all the woods of India and China, and are 

 remarkable only for their malevolent dispositions and their dis- 

 gusting manners. Of the Lemur tribe, two genera, Nycticebus and 

 Tarritu, inhabit Asia : all the rest of this numerous family, as we 

 have observed in the zoology of Africa, are found in the island 

 of Madagascar and along the eastern coast of the neighbouring con- 

 tinent. 



Among the Cheiroptera, or Bat kind, the Pteropi, or large fru- 

 givorous species are almost exclusively Asiatic ; as are likewise the 

 Galeopitfuci, or as they are commonly called by travellers, flying 

 foxes. Both these genera inhabit the woods and forests of the 

 inter-tropical parts of Asia, principally those of the great Indian Isles. 

 Unlike the generality of winged quadrupeds, they are of diurnal 

 habits, live entirely upon leaves and fruits, and are eaten by the 

 natives. The more common species of nocturnal and insectivorous 

 cheiroptera swarm in every part of Asia ; the most remarkable among 

 them is a species (Cheiromrles) with an opposeable thumb on the hind 

 feet, which inhabits the Malayan peninsula. 



Among the Carnivorous animals of Asia are three or four different 

 species of bears; one of these (Ursus Syrians) lately discovered on 

 Mount Lebanon, is frequently mentioned by the sacred writers: the 

 others inhabit the Himalaya and other more eastern mountains, 

 except one species (If. labiatus), which is found in the jungles on the 

 plains of India. Besides these, the common brown bear of Europe, 

 and the white, or Polar bear, abound in Siberia, Kamtchatka, and 

 along the shores of the Frozen Ocean. The Bali-Saur (Arcttmyx) is 

 the badger of India ; and among the smaller carnivora, the Gymnurse, 

 Mydai, Ailuri, Arctites, and Paradoxuri, are peculiar to the continent 

 of Asia and the large islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. Among 

 the fur animals Northern Asia produces the sable, the ermine, and 

 various other species of Mustela. The sea-otter, the most valuable of 

 nil, has been hitherto found only in the northern Pacific, along the 

 coasts of Asia and America, from the parallel of Japan northward 

 as far as navigators have yet been able to penetrate. The tiger, the 

 most savage and formidable of all the carnivorous animals, exists 

 only in Asia and the neighbouring isles; the Rimau-dahan (Felit 

 macroce'ii), a large species but lately described, inhabits Siam and 

 Sumatra ; and the leopard and panther are common among the 

 forests of India. The lion also has lately been found in the province 

 o" Ouzerat; but unlike the African variety he is without a mane, 

 and appears to be altogether a much less formidable animal. The 

 striped hyaena is common in all the warmer parts of the conti- 

 . and various species of wild dogs and foxes are everywhere 

 ' lint. 



M'ir*upial animals are for the most part confined to Australia ; 

 a few species nevertheless extend throughout the long chain of islands 

 which nearly unite thU continent with Asia. Of these, one is a 



Kangaroo (Macropus JJruynii), the first of the genus ever discovered, 

 laving been described and figured 170 years ago by Le Bruyn ; the 

 ;hree other marsupials enumerated in the table belong to the genus 

 Phalangista, and are distinguished from the Australian phalangers by 

 laving the tail partially or entirely naked and scaly. 



Of the numerous Rodentia which inhabit every part of Asia, very 

 "evf indeed are deserving of attention, either in a commercial or econo- 

 mical point of view. Three or four species of hares (Lepus), and an 

 equal number of lagomice, or hare-rats, are the only Asiatic animals 

 of this tribe which Europeans are accustomed to consider as fit for 

 liuman food ; the rest consist principally of squirrels (many of which 

 are of large size and prettily variegated with stripes and shades of 

 different colours), rats, jerboas, hamsters, marmots, flying squirrels, 

 and two or three different species of porcupines. The jerboas 

 (Dipus), of which ten or twelve species are found in the deserts of 

 the interior, burrow in the sand at the root of some plant or shrub, 

 and are almost the only animals which enliven the long and dreary 

 wastes which the traveller frequently encounters in Asia, hopping 

 along on the hind legs like a bird, and crossing his path with the 

 rapidity of an arrow. The flying squirrels (Pteromys) inhabit the 

 forests of the whole continent from Siberia to Java, and are remark- 

 able for an expansion of the skin along the sides, which enables them 

 to leap to the distance of forty or fifty yards in passing from tree to 

 tree : it acts like a parachute to prevent too rapid a descent, though it 

 is incapable of being moved like the wings of birds, and consequently 

 of exercising' the proper function of flying. 



The Edentata of Asia are confined to two species, both belonging to 

 the genus Manw, or Pangolins, frequently called scaly ant-eaters by 

 travellers. These singular animals in fact resemble the real ant-eaters 

 of the American continent in everything but their external covering, 

 which, instead of the ordinary hair of quadrupeds, consists of a suc- 

 cession of parallel rows of large imbricated scales that lap over one 

 another like the tiles of a house, and are capable of being elevated or 

 depressed at the will of the animal. One of the Asiatic species is 

 clearly indicated by .(Elian (lib. xvi. cap. 6) under the name of 

 Phattage. 



Among the Pachydermata of Asia the elephant has been already 

 noticed. Three different species of rhinoceros are known to inhabit 

 the continent of India and the great islands contiguous to the Malayan 

 peninsula. The continental species (Rhinoceros Indicus), and that 

 which inhabits the island of Java (R. Jaranicus), have but one horn; 

 the Sumatran Rhinoceros (R. Sumatrensis) resembles the African species 

 by having two of these excrescences, for they cannot be properly 

 called horns. Of the genus Equus, the common horse and ass have 

 been already mentioned, as in all probability originally indigenous to 

 the central plains of Asia. One other species, the Dziggetai (R he- 

 mionus), still retains its native freedom in the same localities. It is a 

 beautiful animal, in point of size intermediate between the other two, 

 with much of the symmetrical figure and graceful carriage of the 

 horse, and of the same dun colour as the ass, marked along the back 

 with a broad coffee-coloured stripe, but without the cross on tlie 

 shoulder which distinguishes that animal. The Dziggetai, probably 

 also the Koulan of the modern Persians, was well known to the 

 ancients, and is mentioned by Aristotle and Xenophou by the name 

 of the wild ass. Aristotle (vi. 36), in addition to the wild ass, men- 

 tions an animal called the Syrian mule, from its resemblance to a 

 mule. The latter author mentions that during the expedition of the 

 Ten Thousand under the younger Cyrus these animals were observed 

 on the open plains of Mesopotamia, where the ostrich also lived ; and 

 though these gigantic birds no longer inhabit the Asiatic deserts, the 

 same phenomenon is daily observed in South Africa, where the ostrich 

 and the quagga are invariably found to associate together. Of the hog 

 genus (<S'uj*), two species at least are found in Asia : one of them, the 

 common Wild Boar of Europe (S. icrofa), appears to extend over 

 every part of the Old World; the other, the Sus Balyrussa of 

 naturalists, is peculiar to the great Indian Isles, and is remarkable 

 for the singular manner in which the tusks of the upper jaw pierce 

 through the lip on each side and curl round and over the eyes like a 

 pair of circular horns. The only other pachydermatous animal of 

 Asia which deserves particular notice is the Malayan Tapir (T. Indi- 

 cus), a species the existence of which in this part of the world is the 

 more remarkable since its congeners are confined to the forests of 

 South America. 



Of the Ruminating animals of Asia, the camel, the dromedary, and 

 the four species of the ox kind which have been domesticated by the 

 natives, have been already mentioned. In other respects the principal 

 feature in this department of Asiatic zoology is the great abundance 

 of the deer tribe, and the comparative scarcity of antelopes. Out of 

 37 known species of Deer (Cervus), 25 are found in Asia, and of those 

 20 are peculiar to it ; whilst not more than a dozen out of nearly 60 

 antelopes are found upon the same continent. The Tibet Musk-Decr 

 (Moschus mosrifcrus) is about the size of a small goat ; both sexes 

 are without horns, but the perfume known as musk is produced 

 by the male only. The Tibet musk-deer inhabits the highest parts 

 of the Himalayan and Tibetan mountains, seldom descending below 

 the snow line, and leaping among "the rocks and precipices with the 

 si'dirity of the chamois or the ibex. Four or five smaller species of 

 the genus Moediutt, probably the smallest of all hoofed animals, being 



