1862.] MR. R. SWINHOE ON THE MAMMALS OF FORMOSA. 363 



Chinese for the nutriment they afford in cases of debiUty, just as 

 they prize other gelatinous substances, such as birds' nests, nests of 

 certain species of small Swifts (Collocalice), sharks' fins, fish-maws, 

 &c. After the velvet is removed, the horn is dried, pared thin with 

 an instrument like a nutmeg-grater, and boiled into a soup, in which 

 state it is used. The velvet is not wasted, but is set aside to deal 

 out in small quantities to matrons of the family to aid them in their 

 convalescence after child-birth. The skin of the Deer is not thought 

 much of, nor is the flesh much valued. 



The central or higher range of mountains, which are in parts 

 covered with perennial snow, are inhabited by the Cervus taivanus. 

 These heights abound with large masses of tangled forest, in which 

 the gigantic Laurus campJiora (the tree whence the drug of commerce, 

 camphor, is distilled) forms no inconspicuous part. These heights 

 are tenanted by tribes of half- clad Indians, of the Malay type, blood- 

 thirsty and savage in the extreme, who keep up a constant war- 

 fare with the Chinese colonists of the plains, and resist with atro- 

 city any inroads into their mountain territory. On the lower hills, 

 however, that define the land of the colonist from that of the abori- 

 ginal, dealings on a friendly footing are carried on in bartering Chinese 

 commodities for deers' horns, venison, and other results of the chase. 

 To these aborigines, money has no value as a medium of exchange. 

 They live on the flesh of deer and other wild animals, which they 

 only partially broil before eating. They obtain, by barter, from the 

 Chinese matchlocks and gunpowder, which they use to wound the 

 deer, when approached within a few yards by creeping through the 

 thicket. The wounded animal is then surrounded by a closing ring 

 of half-naked savages, and, scared by their wild shouts, falls an easy 

 prey to their metal-headed javelins. When powder fails them, they 

 sometimes manage to intercept one from a herd, and driving him into 

 more open country, scatter a loose and wide- spread ring of humanity 

 round him ; the ring rapidly closes in as before, and as the frightened 

 beast attempts to leap or break it, spears are hurled into him from all 

 sides, and he can rarely effect his escape. Other means of capture 

 are also practised, but less successfully, the commonest of which, 

 when the beast is required to be taken alive, are slip-nooses attached 

 to a stake, and so adjusted as either to take him by the leg or by the 

 horns. But the animal captured when full-grown rarely survives ; 

 and therefore the young are sought for the purpose of rearing. 

 They are nurtured with great care till a year old, when the horns 

 begin to form. They are then conveyed to the borders and bartered 

 to the Chinese, by whom, as I before stated, they are much valued. 



In the city of Taiwanfoo I procured two bucks and a doe of this 

 species, and forwarded them, via Hongkong, to the Gardens of the 

 Society ; but unfortunately only one, a buck, reached England in 

 safety. This was enough, however, to establish the species, which had 

 hitherto been described only from the skull. Any one visiting the 

 Gardens can now have an opportunity of making himself acquainted 

 with this lovely animal as nature has moulded him ; and as the 

 Japanese species, Cervus sika, is confined there in an adjoining cage, 



