C3HAP.MT11.] OF THE MOLUCCAS, gQj? 



disappeared At this time the babinisa may have entere'l 

 Bouni, since it prohably swims as well as its allies the 

 pigs. These are spread all over the Archipelago, even to 

 several of the smaller islands, and in many cases the species 

 are peculiar. It is evident, therefore, that they have some 

 natuml means of dispersal There is a popular idea that 

 pigs cannot swim, hut Sir Charles Lyell has shown that 

 this is a mistake. In his Principles of Geology " (luth 

 Edit, vol ii, p. B55} he adduces evidence to show that pigs 

 have swnm many mile^ at sea, and are able to swim with 

 great ease and swiftness, I have myself seen a wild pig 

 swimming across the ami of the sea that separates Singa- 

 pore from the Peninsula of Malacca, and we thus have 

 explained the curious fact, that of all the large mammals 

 of the Indian region, pigs alone extend beyond the 

 Moluccas and as far as New Guinea, although it is 

 somewhat curious that they have not found thek way 

 to Australia. 



The little shrew, Sorex myosnnis^ which is common in 

 Sumatra, liorneo, and Java, is also found in the larger 

 islands of the Moluccas, to which it may have been 

 accidentally conveyed in native prana. 



This completes the list of the placental mammals which 

 are so characteristic of the Indian region ; and we see that, 

 with the single exception of the pig, all may very probably 

 have been introduced by man, since all except the pig are 

 of species identical with those now abounding in the great 

 Malay islands, or in Celebes. 



The four remaining mammals are Marsupials, an ortler 

 of the class Mammalia, which is very characteristic of the 

 Australian fauna ; and these are probably true natives of 

 the Moluccas, since they are either of peculiar species, or 

 if found elsewhere are natives only of New Guinea or 

 North Australia. The first is the small %ing opossum, 

 Belideus ariei, a beautiiul little animal, exactly hke a 

 small flying squirrel in appearance, but belonging to the 

 marsupial order. The other three are species of the 

 curious genus Cuscus, wliich is peculiar to the Austro- 

 Jlalayan region. These are opossum-like animals, with a 

 lung prchen.'.ile tail, of which the terminal half is generally 

 bare. They have small heads, large ej'es, and a dense 



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