

FI^EF ACE. 



This work on the Mammals of Borneo has been prepared 

 in the course of the last few years by Mr. Charles Hose, 

 an enthusiastic naturalist, who, in conjunction with his 

 friend, Mr. A. H. Everett, has revolutionized our knowledge 

 of the vertebrates of the Island of Borneo, or at least of 

 that part of it ruled by His Highness The Rajah of 

 Sarawak, in whose service he is, and by whose active encourage- 

 ment he has been enabled to carry on his researches into the 

 fauna. These researches, necessarily carried out on a large 

 scale, have already resulted in such an increase of our know- 

 ledge that it is hardly too much to say that the mammals of 

 the wild and previously unexplored Baram district of Sarawak, 

 are now as well-known as are those of any other district in the 

 world of equal size and richness, and this is entirely due to the 

 energy and enthusiasm of Mr. Hose. 



The descriptions in this work are of course largely com- 

 piled from the works of various technical writers, but the notes 

 on the habits, native names, and distribution are all Mr. Hose's 

 own, and are based both on his really intimate acquaintance 

 with the animals themselves, and also on his extensive know- 

 ledge of the natives, to whom, as is the case with all successful 

 collectors, he is largely indebted for information and specimens. 



The determinations throughout the book are practically 

 all my own, and as I am therefore responsible to a certain 

 extent for its correctness, Mr. Hose has asked me to write these 

 few words by way of preface, but it is difficult to give persons 

 unacquainted with him any idea of his energy, scientific spirit, 

 and intimate knowledge of his subject, of which the outcome is 

 the present useful little work. This we have every reason to 

 hope is only the precursor of a fuller and more complete account, 

 which he hopes to prepare if he is able in the future as in the 

 past to carry on his painstaking researches into the Natural 

 History of the mammalian inhabitants of the Island of Borneo. 



OLDFIELD THOMAS. 



