MAMMALS 45 



lotif, of the stories became somewhat altered to 

 suit the change in the fauna. 1 The Malayan stories 

 undoubtedly owe nothing to the West African negro, 

 for there can be no community of descent in the two 

 races ; they must have been independently evolved. 

 It is legitimate to suppose that the two sets of native 

 races, the West African and the Malayan, impressed 

 by the fact that such defenceless creatures as the Hare 

 and the Mouse-Deer could flourish amidst far more 

 powerful animals, sought to account for it by attri- 

 buting to the weaklings a superior intelligence and 

 cunning, and their belief has been enshrined in these 

 folk-tales. It is true that the upper canine teeth of 

 the male Plandok are long and sharp, and severe cuts 

 can be inflicted by them, the head being moved 

 rapidly with a curious sideways action, but on the 

 whole the Plandok is a very defenceless creature, and 

 trusts to its remarkable speed to elude its enemies 

 rather than stand on its defence. 



The other Deer of the island are the Barking Deer, or 

 Kijang, Cervulus muntjac, and the Rusa, Cervus equinus. 

 The antlers of the Rusa are rather small, and make but 

 poor trophies when compared with those of the Sam- 



1 It is interesting to note that one of the Brer Rabbit stories has 

 been transplanted to Europe, and in the process has become greatly 

 changed to suit, not a difference of fauna, but a different moral 

 code. The Hare and Tortoise story has been told to many an 

 English child in order to inculcate the maxim " Slow and sure wins 

 the day." The Hare, too confident of victory, lies down to sleep 

 after running a short distance, and the plodding Tortoise arrives 

 first at the winning-post. Readers of the incomparable " Uncle 

 Remus" need not be told that the tortoise defeats Brer Rabbit by 

 pure guile and deceit, and the story is the reverse of moral accord- 

 ing to English ideas. The Hermit-crab employs exactly the same 

 deceit against the Plandok. 



