572 



THE NAPU, OR JAVA MUSK. 



always preferring the cold and elevated mountainous regions. The height of the adult Musk 

 Deer is about two feet three inches at the shoulders ; the color is light brown, marked with a 

 shade of grayish-yellow. Inhabiting the rocky and mountainous locations of its native home, 

 it is remarkably active and sure-footed, rivalling even the chamois or the goat in the agility 

 with which it can ascend or descend the most fearful precipices. The great length of the 

 false hoofs adds much to the security of the Musk Deer' s footing upon the crags. 



It is only in the male that the long tusks are seen, and that the perfume called musk 

 is secreted. The tusks are sometimes as much as three inches in length, and therefore project 

 considerably beyond the jaw. In shape they are compressed, pointed, and rather sharp-edged. 

 The natives say that their principal use is in digging up the kastooree plant, a kind of sub- 

 terranean bulb on which the Musk Deer feeds, and which imparts the peculiar perfume to the 

 odorous secretion. The musk is produced hi a glandular pouch placed in the abdomen, and 

 when the animal is killed for the sake of this treasure, the musk bag is carefully removed, so 

 as to defend its precious contents from exposure to the air. When securely taken from the 

 animal, the musk is of so powerful an odor as to cause headache to those who inhale its over- 

 powering fragrance. The affluence of perfume that resides in the musk is almost incredible, 

 for a small piece of this wonderful secretion may remain in a room for many years, and at 

 the end of that time will give forth an odor which is apparently not the least diminished 

 by time. 



On account of the value of the musk, the animal which furnishes the precious substance 

 is subjected to great persecution on the part of the hunters, who annually destroy great num- 

 bers of these active little animals. The native 

 hunters await the season of migration, when 

 the Deer are forced to pass into more clement 

 latitudes in search of subsistence, and beset 

 their path with various traps, besides seizing 

 every opportunity of destroying them by mis- 

 siles. Although so good a leaper, and so well 

 adapted for traversing the rocky crags of its 

 native hills, the Musk Deer is not a very good 

 climber, and descends slopes with great diffi- 

 culty. 



Another member of the Moschine group 

 is the Kanchil, or Pigmy Musk {Tragulus 

 pygmcBus), a Deer which is found in the 

 Asiatic islands, and which is as celebrated for 

 its cunning as is the fox among ourselves. 



This animal is not nearly so large as the 

 musk Deer, and although somewhat similar in 

 color, may be distinguished by a broad black 

 stripe which runs along the back of the neck, 

 and forms a wide band across the chest. In- 

 stead of living in the cold and lofty mountain 

 ranges which are inhabited by the musk Deer, 

 the Kanchil prefers the thickly wooded dis- 

 tricts of the Javanese forests. Like many other animals, the Kanchil is given to " possuming," 

 or feigning death when it is taken in a noose or trap, and as soon as the successful hunter 

 releases the clever actor from the retaining cord, it leaps upon its feet and darts away before 

 he has recovered from his surprise. 



:^^ 



KANCHIL, OR PIGMY MUSK DEER.— Tragnlve pygviaeus. 



The Napu, or Java Musk, inhabits Java and Sumatra, and without possessing the intel- 

 lect of the Kanchil, is a very pleasing animal to the sight, and as it is readily domesticated, is 

 well adapted to European menageries. 



