136 Rough Notes on the Zoology of Candahar. [No. 170. 



I heard of an animal, however, which had been killed near Washer, 

 on the frontier towards Herat, and at the death of which my informant 

 was present, which leads me to suppose (if the story be true,) that the 

 " Babaroussa" (Sus babaroussa, Linn.), or some allied species, is an in- 

 habitant of those parts. My informant was one of the party who ac- 

 companied the Candahar Sirdars as far as Washer, on their disastrous 

 expedition against Herat in the years 1838-9. He described the animal 

 as like a hog, with tusks and two horns on the nose ; now the Babaroussa, 

 according to Fred. Cuvier, has four tusks, two of which, by piercing 

 through the skin of the muzzle, give the animal the appearance des- 

 cribed by my informant. He declared, that it charged the party of 

 hunters and overthrew a horse, but was shot and speared before it could 

 do further injury. I have seen no spoils of the animal, and merely give 

 the story as I heard it, from one who, by the way, was found in other 

 respects, like most of his countrymen, to be an unblushing fabulist. 23 



Wild hogs are plentiful in Scindh, and especially around Shikarpore. 



No. 21. Hystrix cristata. Common Porcupine. 



This animal is very abundant around Candahar and in the neigh- 

 bouring districts ; it hides in the deep fissures and caves which abound 

 in the limestone ranges that divide the valleys, and issuing forth at 

 night-fall, they commit sad havoc in the grain-fields and gardens. They 

 are entrapped in pit- falls, and likewise shot. I once asked an Afghan if 

 he would eat one, and he replied with a start of astonishment — " toba, 



larly fine specimen, from Cuttack, measuring fourteen inches and a half above, along 

 the mesial line to tip of nasal, and the lower tusks of which (withdrawn from their 

 sockets) measure seven inches and a half long following their curvature, the vertex 

 narrows posteriorly to an inch and three-eighths ; whereas, in another skull of the 

 same length, or a trifle longer, with lower tusks measuring six inches and a quarter, 

 the vertex is two and a quarter across where narrowest, and the whole vertical aspect 

 of the cranium is broader and more convex. Where the latter specimen was obtained 

 I cannot learn; but I have seen others like it from Bengal and Arracan. 



Wild hogs are very generally diffused throughout India, and they occur in the 

 Himalaya at all altitudes. Mr. Hodgson informs us that there are not any in Thibet; 

 but in the country of the Usbegs they would appear to be very numerous. Thus, Lieut. 

 Wood, in his l Journey to the Source of the Oxus,' mentions that—" Descending the 

 eastern side of Junas Durrah, our march was rendered less fatiguing by following 

 hog-tracks in the snow. So numerous are these animals, that they had trodden down 

 the snow as if a large flock of sheep had been driven over it." They are also common 

 in Persia, and in the countries eastward of the Bay of Bengal.— Cur, As. Soc. 



'23. Possibly a species of Phachocheeres.—Cur. As. Soc. 



