402 FOSSILS FROM PERIM ISLAND. 



Mastodon, one of Elephant, a large species of Rhinoceros, 

 Hipj)opotanins, Sus, Eqnus, several species of Antelope, Bos, 

 two species of Crocodile, one of which is of the Gavial type; 

 several forms of freshwater Tortoises, with fish vertebrae two 

 and a half to three inches in diameter. These wiU be noticed 

 in detail, in the work upon which Captain Cautley and myself 

 are engaged, on the fossil fauna of the Sewalik hills. The 

 principal point of interest about them requiring mention on 

 this occasion is, that the mass of the Perim fossils belong to 

 the same genera and species which are found in the Sewalik 

 hills, and in the ossiferous beds of the Irrawaddi in Ava. 

 We have thus conclusive proof that, in the later tertiary 

 period, as at present, one and the same vertebrate fauna 

 ranged from the banks of the Irrawaddi, on the eastern side 

 of the Bay of Bengal, 1,700 miles up along the foot of the 

 Himalayahs to the Indus, where it escapes from these momi- 

 tains, and thence across the continent to the western side of 

 India. We are now getting the first glimpse of the evidence, 

 regarding the range and distribution of the species. Some, 

 as at present, were common over the whole extent of country, 

 while others appear to have been limited to, or had their 

 force of development in, a particular tract. The prevailing 

 species of Mastodon fi-om Perim is identical with one of 

 the forms described by Mr. Clift, under the name of M. 

 latidens, in his excellent memoir in the Geo!. Transact., 

 2nd. ser. vol. ii. p. 371, this nominal species appearing to in- 

 clude two very distinct forms. One of these (Mr. Cliffs, PL 

 XXXVn. figs. 1-4) seems to have been common on the western 

 side of India and in Ava, while it is but rarely found in the 

 Sewalik hills. The Perim Siis is identical with a Sewalik 

 species [Sus Hysudricus, Falc. and Caut.) ; and a like agree- 

 ment has been noticed as holding with one species of Giraffe. 

 The Dinotherium and Bramatherium have not yet been 

 observed amidst the fossils of the Sewalik hills, while the 

 gigantic Tortoise {Colossochelys Atlas) ranged from the Se- 

 walik hills to the Irrawaddi.^ The Hexaprotodon form of 

 -Hippopotamus occurs in Perim Island, Ava, the valley of the 

 Nerbudda River, and the Sewalik hills. 



I have had occasion, in more than one instance, in joint 

 communications with Captain Cautley to the Geological 

 Society, to refer to the singular richness of the ancient fauna 

 of India, in mammiferous forms. As a general expression of 

 the leading features, it may be stated that it appears to have 

 been composed of representative forms of all ages, from the 

 oldest of the tertiary period down to the modern, and of all 



' There are fragments of this great Chelonian among the fossils brought by 

 Mr. Crawfurd from Ava. 



