360 MR. R.SWINHOE ON THE MAMMALS OF FrorMosA. [Dec. 9, 
rather inclined to doubt, as the kind of holes I have always found them 
in never showed signs of fresh-turned earth. I have met with them in 
no place so abundantly as on the plains near Peking in winter, where 
they sought shelter among the long grass and dried remains of the 
cotton-plants. When the great cold, as the Chinese term it, sets 
in, these poor brutes get terribly pinched, and may almost be trodden 
upon. They are then considered good eating, and much sought 
after. The matchlock daily thins their numbers; others are killed 
by heavy-loaded sticks, and some are struck ina more scientific man- 
ner by Hawks trained to the pursuit. The Peking and Tientsin 
markets, the winter through, teem with their carcases, which are 
sold for a comparative trifle. At last nature steps to their rescue, 
and saves their race from annihilation by relaxing the rigour of the 
climate, and enabling them to return to the security of the hills. 
The species occurs in most parts of Formosa, but is nowhere abund- 
ant. The common mode of taking them there is with the noose. 
The Hare found about the hills of Talien-wan is a much longer- 
eared animal, and most probably a distinct species ; it is perhaps the 
Lepus variabilis, Pall. ; whereas that of Japan (the Lepus brachyotis, 
Temm.) is different again, and remarkable for its short ears. 
14, PoRCULA TAIVANA, Sp. NOV. 
I have it on the authority of the natives, that this little Mountain- 
Pig carries the stripes and spots of immaturity in its adult state, as 
in Porecula sylvana, Hodgs., of Nepal. Unfortunately I was not 
able to procure a full-grown animal. 
I procured three sucking-pigs, and tried very hard to rear them, 
but succeeded in keeping them alive only a few weeks. I had them 
skinned as they died, and at the same time took care to preserve 
their bodies in spirits for the sake of the skeleton. One or more of 
these are now in the British Museum. I kept a pair of these little 
fellows some days in the house, They used to suck milk out of a 
bottle, and soon grew very tame, following me about like little dogs, 
grunting and squeaking in true swine fashion. The cow’s milk, how- 
ever, did not seem to afford them sufficient nutriment; for though they 
drank largely, they daily grew thinner, and soon succumbed. In this 
pair the canine teeth and lower incisors had appeared. Their noses 
and lips, as well as their toes, were flesh-coloured, merely tinged with 
black. Their irides were light yellowish brown. Their under parts 
and feet were white. The hair on the head, chin, shoulders, and 
thighs was light yellowish brown, that on the crown being abundantly 
tipped with black. The rest of the upper parts were striped longi- 
tudinally with black and light yellowish brown, the stripes on the 
sides becoming somewhat disconnected, and the yellowish appearing 
in large patches and spots. 
Wild Pigs are found all over the hills on the north-west portion of 
the island ; and so much depredation do they commit in the fields of 
sweet potato and other edible roots, that the colonists have gone to 
the trouble and expense of raising what they call Te-loah, or Pig- 
barricades, about the hills, to oppose the descent of these animals. 
