470 LETTER FROM DR. J. ANDERSON. [ Nov. 1], 
The following extracts were read from a letter addressed to Mr. 
Grote, F.Z.S., by Dr. J. Anderson, C.M.Z.S., dated Indian Museum, 
Caleutta, June 11th, 1869 :— 
«T dare say you will remember that I made various futile attempts 
while you were in Calcutta to procure living specimens of the Pigmy 
Hog of the Terai (Porcula salvania). On these occasions I trusted 
to the kind promises of some of my friends in the neighbourhood of 
Darjeeling ; but as they all failed in their uneducated endeavours, I 
sent my own collectors last March to the Terai to try what they 
could do. I am glad to say they have been successful, and I have 
now a fine specimen of this remarkable little Hog before me while I 
write. It is a young male, but the natives assert that it is nearly 
full-grown. It measures 19 inches along the side, from the tip of 
the snout to the vent, and the tail is 21 lines in length. Jerdon is in 
error when he says that it has no mane; for iny specimen has a 
marked list of long black hairs down the back, intermixed with 
yellowish-brown hairs, and with others banded with the latter colour 
and black. The hairs over the rump are longer than in any other part 
of the body. The sides are sparsely covered with bright yellow-brown 
hairs, and with others banded like those on the dorsum. The mesial 
line of the ventral surface, from between the fore legs to the vent, is 
almost nude, with only a few short yellow hairs. The legs are very 
graceful, and suggest that this elegant little creature must test the 
running-qualities of the dogs. The ears are full and round, The 
snout is moderately long, but not so tapering as in the common 
Boar. Mr. Southby, of the Selim Tea-Estate, under whose care my 
collectors were, informs me that Porcula salvania is common in the 
Terai below Punkahlarri, and is found in herds of 500 in the low 
jungle. The natives inform him that its food consists of bulbs and 
roots; and that the female carries her brood, which usually num- 
bers three or four, for five or six months. It is very shy, and the 
Meehies trap it with nets and hunt it with dogs. A village will 
catch as many as four or five in a season, which they reckon from 
January to April; and when caught young it becomes easily domes- 
ticated, and is found tame about the villages. These wild people 
consider its flesh a great delicacy. 
«‘T have also been trying hard to get skins, skeletons, and living 
specimens of the Yakin (Budorcas tawicolur). I have within the 
last month received two very fine skins of half-grown males, with 
small straight horns directed backwards. The Mishnees brought 
one of the specimens alive nearly as far as Debrooghur. This was 
in answer to the reward I had offered of one hundred rupees for a 
living specimen. I am afraid I shall not succeed in getting the 
beast alive to the plains, as it lives among the snow, being seldom 
seen below it. Major Stewart informs me that the Yakin is found 
in all the high ranges to the north-east of Debrooghur, and is far 
from uncommon. The Mishnees, with their very inferior appliances 
to shoot and catch them, are nevertheless frequently dressed in their 
skins, or have a part of a skin with the hair on as an ornament, 
which would seem to indicate that they are numerous. The Mish- 
