IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



come to the ground to ravage the nests of ants or termites, it generally 

 keeps up trees, and has a predilection for the honey of the wild 

 bees which it gets there. 



The Bornean Carnivora which are not arboreal are aquatic or 

 semi-aquatic ; such are some otters and the rare Cynogale bennetti 1 . 

 A singular exception is the " anjin utan," a kind of wild dog (Cyon 

 rutilans), which I have never seen. All the squirrels, and they are 

 many, are arboreal ; and so are the insectivorous tupaias, of which 

 several species are known. 



Various species of rats and mice, and some insectivores found in 

 Borneo, are, no doubt, terrestrial in their habits, and live in burrows 

 in the ground or in the hollows of tree-trunks ; they are thus hardly 

 to be considered cursorial mammals, and are of small size. Among 

 true terrestrial mammals are several Ungulates ; but of these the 

 rhinoceros (R. sumatrensis) and the tapir (T. indicus), although 

 adapted for existence in unwooded regions, are also perfectly organ- 

 ised to wander amid dense vegetation, where their weight and size 

 ensures an easy passage. For these, however, swiftness is not a 

 necessity, for they have no enemies they need be afraid of. On the 

 other hand, the wild pigs, of which, according to Everett, 1 there are 

 no less than six species on the island, are perfectly fitted for rapid 

 movement through the forest undergrowth. 



The " banteng " of the Malays (Bos sondaicus) is a noble crea- 

 ture, the largest ruminant in Borneo. It is not so scarce and keeps 

 to the jungle, and especially to the forest of second growth, in the 

 interior. The diminutive plandok, or chevrotain (Tragulus), 

 appears to be a true forest animal, as also the " kidjan " (Cervulus 

 muntjac), another small deer with non-branching horns. The 

 " rusa," a true stag, is found mostly in clearings, in old rice-fields, 

 or on hills covered with lalang grass. It appears, I might say, 

 as an alien amongst the forest fauna of the country, and, as a matter 

 of fact, one may suspect that it has been introduced by man. 

 The Malays distinguish the " rusa balum," with doubly branched 

 horns, and the " rusa lalang," smaller and with bifurcated horns. 

 A third species is also said by some to exist in Borneo. 



We find then, in the island, a bare dozen of Ungulates adapted 

 to run and roam on plains, but already modified for forest life, against 

 over 150 species of mammals belonging to other Orders, of which 

 two-thirds are strictly arboreal when not aerial (Chiroptera). This 

 shows to what an extent the primeval forest has impeded the evolu- 

 tion or perpetuation of terrestrial mammals (in the sense of dwellers 

 on the ground), and especially of those which are fleet of foot. 



Deer and pigs are the chief large game to be had in Sarawak. 

 The former, however, are not found in the immediate vicinity of 



1 P.Z.S., 1889. 



38 



