a i a i i i ee 
1862.] ON THE INCUBATION OF PYTHON SEBZ. 365 
reproduce those they have just shed ; but it strikes me the horns will 
only consist of short double-pronged antlers, as in the Hog Deer. 
On the lower range of hills, varying from 1000 to 5000 feet, the 
Cervus swinhoii maintains its ground; and as those hills chiefly 
occur in the northern portion of the island, its lot falls among an- 
other but closely allied race of savages. The Kwei-ying are a finer 
race than their brethren, the Kalees of the south, but they are equally 
savage. By them the same kind of barter is carried on with the 
Chinese colonists, and, as far as I could learn, the same mode of 
hunting deer. The country where this deer is found is also densely 
covered with bush, in which the savage lurks with his matchlock, 
jealous of every intruder on his hunting-haunts. Like all wild races, 
especially of the Malay type, he is very treacherous, and never to 
be depended on unless you can carry with you sufficient means to 
enforce freedom from molestation. One hour he will profess for 
you everlasting friendship, and the next, on some trifling caprice, aim 
a bullet at your head. The Chinese are very fearful of the abori- 
gines, and can rarely be got to cross the boundary-line; and the 
savages have such frequent feuds amongst themselves that, in travelling 
through their territory, friendship professed for one clan may cost 
you your life at the hands of the next you go amongst. One has on 
such journeys so much to do with diplomacy, intrigue, and bribery, 
that, apart from collecting, the incessant toil and expense make tra- 
velling in the wild mountainous interior of Formosa quite an arduous 
undertaking. 
5. Notes oN THE INCUBATION OF PYTHON SEB, AS OBSERVED 
IN THE Socrery’s GARDENS. By P. L. Scuarer, M.A., 
Pu.D., F.R.S., SecreTARY TO THE SOCIETY. 
The fact of a specimen of the West African Python (Python seba) 
having deposited eggs and commenced incubation upon them, in the 
Society’s Gardens, at the beginning of the present year, has been 
already mentioned at one of the Meetings of this Society by Dr. A. 
Giinther* ; and many notices on the same subject have appeared in 
various newspapers and periodicals, scientific and unscientific. Yet I 
think that such an important event ought not to escape record in the 
Journal of the Society, and I have therefore drawn up the following 
short statement of the principal facts of the case for publication in 
the ‘ Proceedings.’ 
A pair of the West African Python (Python sebe) have for some 
time occupied the large compartment in the middle of the northern 
side of the Reptile-house. The female was received by the Society 
in 1849, and has therefore been about thirteen years in the Gardens ; 
the male was purchased on the 18th of April, 1859, since which time 
he has been in company with the female. The female is one of the 
largest Pythons we have ever had, measuring about 22 feet in length. 
The male is of smaller dimensions, measuring about 14 feet in length. 
* See anted, p. 1. 
