12 
FASCICULI MALATENSES 
‘ In the mountains of South Perak we obtained, through the Sakais, the 
skull and bones of a very old male, which seems to have attained an excep- 
tional size, but from native testimony (and Malays have a keen zoological 
instinct) it seems very probable that another species remains to be discovered 
in the Peninsula, which is perfectly well-known to the natives as the ‘bruang 
bukit’ (mountain bear),^ and which lacks the yellowish-white on muzzle, paws, 
and breast, which is so characteristic a feature in Ursus malayanus. 
‘By some Malay systematists Nycticehus is considered a bear, just as for 
some occult reason the gibbons are classed as squirrels.’ 
Cyon rutilans, S. Mull. 
‘ Near Jarum, in the north-west of Rhaman, I disturbed a pack of either 
five or six hunting dogs, which were resting at mid-day under a large tree, 
in the centre of an open space overgrown with long grass, and surrounded 
with thick jungle. The dogs walked off quite slowly into the jungle, at a 
distance of not more than thirty yards in front of me, and, as I heard from a 
man who followed me, returned very shortly to continue their siesta under 
the tree. They were absolutely silent, a fact on which my Malay followers 
congratulated themselves, it being considered most unlucky, in fact, a certain 
omen of death, to meet the srigdla (as the Malays call it), if it barks. So far 
as I could see, the body, head, and limbs of the individuals of this pack were 
of an almost uniform bright rufous, the hair being rather longer than that of 
the Malay pariah, but closely resembling that of the Sakai domestic dog ; 
while the tail, which was carried hanging down, was almost entirely black and 
moderately bushy. The head was held erect, and the animals walked high on 
their feet. The Malays of Rhaman state that there are two species of srigdla 
not uncommon in the Jarum district, the larger and redder species — that which 
I saw — being called srigdla bukit (mountain jackal), and not venturing near the 
villages, though it always goes about in packs ; while the smaller variety, which 
may very well be a true jackal, goes solitary or in pairs, and frequently steals 
sickly lambs, kids, or calves. In Nawngchik and Jalor the same two species 
are said by the natives to occur, coming down in early spring into the plains 
near the villages.’ — N. A. 
‘ On Bukit Besar, on a bright moonlight night at the end of April, we 
were disturbed, towards dawn, by a hideous yelping and yelling, probably 
produced by a large pack of hunting dogs. It passed along close to our hut 
and then came to a standstill, continuing for some time, some distance away in 
the jungle ; and on several succeeding occasions we heard the sound about the 
I. In Hulu Rhaman this hypothetical bear, without the pale markings on the breast, but with spectacled eyes, is 
known as bruang anjing (dog bear) as distinct from the common species, bruang orang (man bear), which it is said to 
exceed in size. — N. A. 
