The Stanleyan Chevrotain. 41 



Tragulus, containing five or six species among 

 them the Stanley an Chevrotain now represented 

 at the Zoo ranging from Ceylon and India 

 through the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and 

 Java to Borneo; and Hyomoschus, with but one 

 species, the Water Chevrotain, of Western Africa. 

 Among the Malays these animals are considered 

 the very embodiment of cunning, much as the 

 fox is with us, and Sir Stamford Baffles told 

 many of their curious tales regarding it, such as 

 that it would feign death when caught until it 

 saw a chance of escape, when it would be up and 

 away in a momenb; and that when pursued by 

 dogs it would spring up and hook itself to a 

 bough by its curved tusks, and so allow its 

 enemies to pass under it. He further tells us 

 that u cunning as a Kanchil" is a common Malay 

 expression. 



The little animal at the Zoo is officially de- 

 scribed as a " Stanleyan Chevrotain, Tragulus 

 Stanleyanus, Ceylon. Purchased Nov. 25, 1889." 

 The species was named after the Earl of Derby, 

 grandfather of the present Earl. Like all its 

 kind, it is a beautiful little animal. Its coat is, 

 in colour, much like a bright sable, barred with 

 white on the chest. Its nose and ears, which 

 latter are small and nearly bare, are black; while 

 its eyes are very full, dark, and lustrous. Being 

 a female, however, it does not possess the pecu- 

 liar tusks we have mentioned. This is by no means 

 the first chevrotain that has been in the possession 



