360 MR. R. SWINHOE ON THE MAMMALS OF FORMOSA. [DcC. 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 in a m.ore 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. UOV. 



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 Poreula 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. 



