1 68 Rusine Group 



every particular excepting size are found in many of the islands in the 

 Indo-Malavan and Austro-Malayan regions. How far these are the result 

 of natural distribution, or how far their occurrence is attributable to 

 artificial transportation, is now most difficult to decide. The best 

 authorities on the fauna of the East Indies, Wallace, Schlegel, and M tiller, 

 are inclined to lean towards the latter alternative ; and it is, I think, certain 

 that the introduction of many of the larger mammals [e.g. monkeys, pigs, 

 and deer) into the islands of the Austro-Malayan region has been affected 

 bv the Malays, who, according to Wallace, are much given to taming 

 animals and conveying them from island to island. At the same time, the 

 existence of a species of Felts peculiar to Timor, and of the singular Anoa 

 depressicornis in Celebes, seems to me to necessitate caution in accepting 

 this solution as of universal application. I shall, therefore, for the present 

 keep the references to Cervus timoriensis of Timor and C. moluccensis 

 distinct." 



Mr. Wallace 1 himself, who is much more confident about the intro- 

 duction by human agency, writes as follows : — " The only Moluccan 

 ruminant is a deer, which was once supposed to be a distinct species, but 

 is now generally considered to be a slight variety of the Rusa hippelaphus 

 of Java. Deer are often tamed and petted, and their flesh is so much 

 esteemed by all Malays, that it is very natural they should endeavour to 

 introduce them into the remote islands in which they settled, and where 

 luxuriant forests seem so well adapted for their subsistence." 



The question is one of extreme difficulty, to which there seems no 

 possibility of giving a definite answer. So far as Celebes is concerned, the 

 occurrence of the anoa and the babirusa renders it quite probable that a 

 deer might also have obtained an entrance into the island. The Moluccas 

 are, however, more essentially Australian ; but if the pigs found in Ceram 

 and New Guinea are really indigenous, it is difficult to say that the deer 

 might not be so likewise. On the other hand, recent researches tend to 

 show that both Celebes and Timor belong to the Oriental, instead of the 

 Australian, region ; the deep channel running to the east, instead of to the 

 west of these islands. And this indicates a considerable probability that 

 these deer may be indigenous. 



Habits. — In Batchian Dr. Guillemard 2 writes that "the common 



1 The Malay Archipelago, p. 300. - Cruise of the ' Marehesa,' p. 357. 



