176 



THE MALAY PROVINCE 



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by the peculiar form of the antlers. The thamin inhabits Manipur and suitable 

 districts throughout Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia, and Hainan, where 

 it always frequents alluvial plains near rivers. It is of fairly large size, the stags 



standing 45 inches at 

 the shoulder, and the 

 hinds about 42 inches. 

 The antlers, which 

 measure on an average 

 40 inches or more, 

 have exceptional^ 

 long and curved brow- 

 tines, which form a 

 continuation of the 

 curve of the beam, the 

 junction being gener- 

 j ally marked by a 

 number of small snags. 

 The beam, which for 

 .1 considerable dis- 

 tance — generally half 

 its length — is un- 

 branched, and curves 

 backwards and out- 

 wards and finally for- 

 wards, carries towards 

 the tip a number of 

 small snags, from two 

 or three up to nine or 

 ten. In Mergui and 

 Malacca the antlers 

 are shorter, the brow- 

 tines bearing gener- 

 ally from two to three 

 points: in Siam, where 

 the upper part of the 

 antler is flattened, it 

 carries numerous 

 small points. The 

 Siamese race is known 

 as C. eldi platyceros. 

 The thamin is short- 

 tailed, coarse-haired, 

 and in winter shaggy- 

 coated, the throat of 

 the stags being thickly 

 a thamin stag. haired. The colour 





