472 CARNIVORES. 



a few months," writes Mr. Espeut, " young ones were seen about, and in less than 

 six months there was evidence, clear and certain, that the rats were much less 

 destructive than they had ever been known. Fewer rats were caught and fewer 

 canes were destroyed, month after month. Within two years the expenditure in 

 killing rats ceased almost entirely, and in another year I enjoyed relief and 

 immunity ; and ever since the losses from rats have been a mere trifle. Within a 

 very short time (three years) neighbouring estates found a similar benefit, and some 

 of my brother sugar-planters, who had laughed at me for supposing the mungoose 

 would do any good, began to buy all they could procure from the natives, who, 

 setting traps on my lands, stole all the mungooses they could obtain, and sold them. 

 By this means, and naturally, the mungoose has now [1882] become general all 

 over the island, and the beneficial results of this useful animal may safely be taken 

 as exceeding 150,000 a year." The mungoose has been subsequently introduced, 

 with equally satisfactory results, into Cuba, Porto Rico, Grenada, Barbadoes, and 

 Santa Cruz. 



The small Indian mungoose (H. auropunctatiis) is a member of the same 

 group as the preceding species, but is of smaller dimensions, with closer and shorter 

 fur, in which the individual hairs of the back do not have more than five coloured 

 rings. This is a northern form, not found in India to the southward of Calcutta, 

 and ranging into the Himalaya as far north as the valley of Kashmir, while to the 

 westward its range includes Baluchistan and portions of Afghanistan and Persia, 

 and eastwards it extends through Assam into Upper Burma. In Kashmir it may 

 frequently be seen in the Mohammedan bury ing -places, where it inhabits old 

 graves. Omitting mention of other uniformly-coloured Indian species, we may 

 briefly refer to three other species inhabiting our eastern dominions. One of these 

 is the ruddy mungoose (H. smithi), widely distributed in India, and distinguished 

 by the black tip to its tail, and the absence of a stripe on the throat. The second 

 is the stripe-necked mungoose (H. viticollis), which is the largest of all the Asiatic 

 species, and is readily distinguished by having both a black tip to the tail and a 

 black stripe down each side of the neck. It inhabits Western India, from Bombay 

 to Cape Comorin, and is also found in Ceylon. 



The last of these three species is the crab -eating mungoose (H. urva\ 

 remarkable on account of its peculiar habits. In size this species (of which we give 

 a figure) is rather smaller than the preceding one, and is characterised by its thick 

 and heavy build, the uniformly-coloured tail, and the presence of a narrow white 

 stripe running along each side of the neck, from the angle of the mouth to the 

 shoulder. The crab -eating mungoose is found at low elevations in the South- 

 Eastern Himalaya, as well as in Assam, Arakan, Pegu, Tenasserim, and the south 

 of China. It is stated to be of partially aquatic habits, and derives its name from 

 the crabs which, together with frogs, are asserted to form its chief food. Further 

 information as to the habits of this species is, however, still required. 



The remaining representatives of the true mungooses comprise the large Javan 

 mungoose (H. javanicus) and the short-tailed mungoose (H. brachyurus) from the 

 Malay Peninsula and some of the islands of the same region, and the barred 

 mungoose (H. semitorquatus) from the Island of Borneo. It has already been 

 mentioned that a few of the true mungooses have but three premolar teeth on 



