84 REV.H. B.TRISTRAM ON THE MAMMALS OF PALESTINE. [Feb. 13, 



2. Report on the Mammals of Palestine. By the 

 Rev. H. B. Tristram, M.A., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. 



The subjoined catalogue contains eighty species, all of which, ex- 

 cepting when tbe contrary is stated, were collected by ns in our ex- 

 pedition in 1864. The mammalian fauna contains a much larger 

 proportion of African species than any other branch of the fauna 

 of the country. Twenty-three species may be considered strictly 

 African or Arabiau. All the others belong to the types of the Me- 

 diterranean basin, though several species are peculiar. It is remark- 

 able that we have scarcely any trace of Indian forms. I believe that 

 the list, considerable as it is, will be largely extended by further 

 research in the southern and desert regions, especially as regards 

 the Cheiroptera and Eodentia ; for many species eluded our efforts 

 to capture them, and, as all collectors know, no class of animated 

 life so easily escapes observation. Of the Phocidse and Cetacea of 

 the coasts I am unable to give any information. 



1. Hyrax syriacus, Schreb. 



" Shaphan," Hebr. " Tubsoon," Arab. 



The Coney is not uncommon by the shores of the Dead Sea, in 

 rocky gorges, rare in the rest of the country, but is occasionally 

 found in the mountainous ridge north of the plain of Acre. Not 

 known in Hermon, or the Lebanon ; extremely abundant in the 

 Sinaitic peninsula. Has three or four young at a birth. 



2. Sus scrofa, L. 



Abundant in the wooded hills and maritime plains alike. Swarms 

 in all the thickets by the Jordan and Dead Sea, and in the forest 

 country east of Jordan. Extends even to the bare wilderness of 

 Judsea, and almost into the desert, where there is no cover, and 

 where its only food is the roots of the desert bulbs. 



3. Bos TAURUS, L. 



Neat cattle are not extensively reared in the central districts. In 

 the south, and on the east side of Jordan, they are the principal stock. 

 There are two very marked varieties : — (1) A small rough one, not 

 unlike the Scotch horned cattle in appearance, but rather larger, 

 which is the breed of the southern wilderness. There is also a larger 

 race in the forests of Gilead. The colour of this breed is generally 

 black or red, rarely with aDy white. (2) A very large Ox, appa- 

 rently allied to the Tuscan breed, generally light-coloured, and 

 called in the country the Armenian cattle. I have only observed it 

 in the northern plains. 



4. Bos bubalus, L. 



The Buffalo takes the place of the common Ox in the Ghor or 

 Jordan valley, especially in the northern districts and marshes of 



