1845.] Rough Notes on the Zoology of Candahar. 351 



No. 17 Lutra [monticola, Hodgson, J. A S. VIII, 320; appa- 

 rently 18 ]. These animals are abundant in the larger rivers, such as the 

 Helmund and Argandab. I could never obtain more than the dried 

 skins, which are prepared for the Bokhara market, and sell for eight 

 Candahar or six Company's Rupees each. They are made into 

 dresses, and are so durable as to be handed down from father to son ! 

 So at least runs the fable ! 



No. 18. Erinaceus collaris ? This species I found in the sandy 

 tracts of Bhawulpore, but as I have only the description of it left, I 

 am uncertain as to its identity with the above named species. 



The animal was clothed with stiff quills on the upper parts of the 

 body ; these were white on the basal half and jet black on the up- 

 per half: the face and under parts of the body were clothed with 

 sooty-black hairs : ears large, ovate, and ashy-gray : snout long and 

 projecting over the under jaw: eyes round, black, and of medium 

 size : tail short and obtuse, nearly naked : chin white. 



Another, in all respects like the last, except that the quills on the 

 sides have pale brown tips. This may be the effect of age or sex, as 

 the specimen was a female. 



These were found in separate holes beneath a thorny bush called 

 " Jhund," in the desert tracts of shifting sand between Sundah Ba- 

 dairah and Hasilpoor, on the left bank of the Garra, where they are 

 numerous. 



A third specimen seems to be distinct : all the under parts except 

 the legs and tail are clothed with soft hair of a pure white, which passes 

 also in a broad band across the forehead ; immediately below this is a 

 band of blackish hue across the face, embracing the eyes ; and the 

 rest of the face to the nose is greyish : nose naked : eyes round and 

 black: ears large and ovate, ashy- grey: head rat-shaped: body and 

 sides above armed with quills which are of a dirty white, or very pale 

 shade of brown, for nearly two-thirds from the base; then a dark brown 

 band, and the tips pale brown. This colouring gives the animal a 

 pale brown appearance. The legs and tail are sooty or blackish, as in 



18. L. monticola would seem to be the most common species of the Himalaya, and 

 the Society has a specimen procured so low as near Moorshedabad, on the Hoogly. 

 It is readily known by the comparative harshness of its fur.— -Cur. As, Soc. 



