6224 



Fauna of Amoy. 



removed on that score by my subsequently receiving a skin from 

 Tungan, as a present, from a Chinese friend. It was described in his 

 letter as the Yuh-meen-maouj or gem-faced cat, and he regretted not 

 having been able to send the body in the skin, as this animal is con- 

 sidered quite an epicure's dish. It is described in the Pun-ts'aou 

 under the name Hvvan, 



We have also heard certain stories about the sea- otter that is occa- 

 sionally seen prowling about on the Six Islands, seeking his finny 

 prey at the dead hour of night, and avoiding the light of day; for 

 soon as morning breaks — 



" Cousueta petens e fluctibus antra, 

 Ibat." 



I have at low tide often traced footprints on the sand of some animal 

 into several caves in Koo-lang-soo, and by following up the track 

 have eventually come on small heaps of fish-bones, but the animal 

 that deposits them I have never had a glimpse of. 



In the Rodentia we are confined to that horrid group of vermin, 

 rats, there not being suflScient shelter for hares, nor wood enough for 

 squirrels to play their gambols in. The brown rat {Mus deciimanus) 

 is of course found here, as indeed it is in all parts of the world where- 

 soever commerce has carried her deeply-laden vessels. M. Cuvier 

 says that ''this rat originally came from Persia, where it lives in bur- 

 rows; and it was not until 1727 that, after an earthquake, it arrived 

 at Astracan, by swimming across the Volga. It did not pass into 

 Europe until the eighteenth century, and is now common in all large 

 cities throughout the world." The musk rat {Sorex Mi/osnrus), with 

 a leaden black skin as soft as velvet, Chi-ch'oo (money rat), a pointed 

 snout and diminutive eyes, is also a common species, but it contents- 

 itself with the kitchen and lower parts of a house, and never ventures 

 as high as the upper story. It occurs plentifully in sewers and damp 

 places, and in Chinese dwellings, whence you often hear its sharp 

 shrill cry, which, the Chinese say, sounds not unlike the jingling of 

 money. It is remarkable for its strong musky odour, with which it 

 impregnates almost everything it touches or runs over. True mice I 

 have never seen here, and indeed where their larger brethren are so 

 plentiful I should almost doubt their existence. A water vole (Arvi- 

 cola) is found in the vicinity of ponds. 



The next quadruped, the only representative we possess of the 

 order Edentata, is far the most interesting, on account of the nume- 

 reons peculiarities both its form and habits present. It is the scaly 



