THE NAPU, OR JAVA MUSK. 
5T2 
always preferring the cold and elevated mountainous regions. The height of the adult Musk 
Deer is about two feet three inches at the shoulders ; the color is light brown, marked with a 
shade of grayish-yellow. Inhabiting the rocky and mountainous locations of its native home, 
it is remarkably active and sure-footed, rivalling even the chamois or the goat in the agility 
with which it can ascend or descend the most fearful precipices. The great length of the 
false hoofs adds much to the security of the Musk Deer’s footing upon the crags. 
It is only in the male that the long tusks are seen, and that the perfume called musk 
is secreted. The tusks are sometimes as much as three inches in length, and therefore project 
considerably beyond the jaw. In shape they are compressed, pointed, and rather sharp-edged. 
The natives say that their principal use is in digging up the kastooree plant, a kind of sub- 
terranean bulb on which the Musk Deer feeds, and which imparts the peculiar perfume to the 
odorous secretion. The musk is produced in a glandular pouch placed in the abdomen, and 
when the animal is killed for the sake of this treasure, the musk bag is carefully removed, so 
as to defend its precious contents from exposure to the air. When securely taken from the 
animal, the musk is of so powerful an odor as to cause headache to those who inhale its over- 
powering fragrance. The affluence of perfume that resides in the musk is almost incredible, 
for a small piece of this wonderful secretion may remain in a room for many years, and at 
the end of that time will give forth an odor which is apparently not the least diminished 
by time. 
On account of the value of the musk, the animal which furnishes the precious substance 
is subjected to great persecution on the part of the hunters, who annually destroy great num- 
bers of these active little animals. The native 
hunters await the season of migration, when 
the Deer are forced to pass into more clement 
latitudes in search of subsistence, and beset 
their path with various traps, besides seizing 
every opportunity of destroying them by mis- 
siles. Although so good a leaper, and so well 
adapted for traversing the rocky crags of its 
native hills, the Musk Deer is not a very good 
climber, and descends slopes with great diffi- 
culty. 
Another member of the Moschine group 
is the Kanchil, or Pigmy Musk ( Trdgulus 
pygmceus ), a Deer which is found in the 
Asiatic islands, and which is as celebrated for 
its cunning as is the fox among ourselves. 
This animal is not nearly so large as the 
musk Deer, and although somewhat similar in 
color, may be distinguished by a broad black 
stripe which runs along the back of the neck, 
and forms a wide band across the chest. In- 
stead of living in the cold and lofty mountain 
ranges which are inhabited by the musk Deer, 
the Kanchil prefers the thickly wooded dis- 
tricts of the Javanese forests. Like many other animals, the Kanchil is given to “ possuming,” 
or feigning death when it is taken in a noose or trap, and as soon as the. successful hunter 
releases the clever actor from the retaining cord, it leaps upon its feet and darts away before 
he has recovered from his surprise. 
The Napu, or Java Musk, inhabits Java and Sumatra, and without possessing the intel- 
lect of the Kanchil, is a very pleasing animal to the sight, and as it is readily domesticated, is 
well adapted to European menageries. 
KANCHIL, OR PIGMY MUSK DEER . — Tragulus pygmceus. 
