152 



Mammaloq-y of the Himalayas. 



[Jt;ly 



likewise the Lion {Felis Leo)^ the Leopard or Panther, for they are 

 both the same species {Fclis Pardm and Leopardiis)^ the Cheetah 

 (Fclis jubata), the Persian and Red-eared Lynxes (Felis Caracal and 

 Feh's Chaus), the striped Hyaena {Hi/a:na virgatd)^ and the Jackall 

 {Cam's aureus), all pre-eminently African species, are found in most 

 parts of India, without offering any striking variety either in form or 

 colour ; whilst the Tigers, Wolves, Paradoxures, &c. of the latter country 

 have never passed far to the west of the Indus, and some of these are 

 even without generic representation on the Continent of Africa : nor ia 

 it less singular that, as far at least as at present known, this migration 

 should have been confined to the Carnivora. There is not a single au- 

 thenticated instance of any of the numerous Antelopes in which Africa 

 abounds above all other parts of the world, and which nature has pecu- 

 liarly arlapted to inhabit the most parched and arid deserts, having 

 crossed the Istlimus of Suez, any more than of the various species of 

 Deer so common throughout the whole extent of Asia having migrated 

 in an opposite direction. If the various indications which Mr. Hodgson 

 has given of the occurrence of species known to inhabit the great islands 

 of the Indian Archipelago, and the southern extremity of the Malay 

 Peninsula, such as the Benturong {Arctitis aJhifrons)^ the Malay 

 Bear {Urfius malayanus)^ and the Javanese Ichneumon {Herpestes 

 javanica), in the forests of the Turai, which skirt the southern foot 

 of the Himalayas, should turn out to be correct, (and it is certain 

 that Felis minuta and Gulo orientalis are common to both these 

 localities), it would appear that India Proper, besides its own appro- 

 priate Mammals, is a kind of neutral ground upon which the species 

 of the most distant countries to the east and west of it meet and min- 

 gle together. One fact, abundantly singular, but which I have never 

 seen accounted for, is the alleged total absence of every species of 

 the genus Canls^ so numerous and so common throughout all parts of 

 India, in Burma, Siam, and those other countries east of the Brahmapoo- 

 tra, which compose the great Malay Peniasula. This is a phenomenon 

 well worth the attention of Indian Naturalists. 



As far as regards the occurrence of the Digitigrade Carnivora among 

 the Himalayan Mountains, it is certain that the Lion, called Bang by the 

 Indians, ascends the western hills to a very considerable elevation. Mr. 

 Fraser often heard of it during his journey to the sources of the Ganges 



