Elephant Preservation Act. The Rhinoceros. The wild throughout India. The shooting of them is prohibited, except when they become dangerous to man or destructive to the crops; and the right of capturing them is only leased out upon conditions. A special law, under the title of The Elephants Preservation Act' (No. VI. of 1879), regulates this licensing system. Whoever kills, captures, or injures an elephant, or attempts to do so, without a licence, is punishable by a fine of 500 rupees for the first offence; and by a similar fine, together with six months' imprisonment, for a second offence. In the year 1877-78, a total of 264 elephants were captured in the Province of Assam, yielding to Government a revenue of £3600. In 1882-83, 475 elephants were captured in Assam, yielding a revenue to Government of £8573. In the season of 1873-74, no less than 53 elephants were captured at one time by Mr. Sanderson, formerly the superintendent of the Kheda Department in Mysore, who has made a special study of the Indian elephant, as Sir S. Baker has of the same animal in Ceylon. Although the supply is decreasing, elephants continue to be in great demand. Their chief use is in the timber trade, and for Government transport. They are also bought up by native chiefs at high prices for ostentation. Sixty persons were reported as killed by elephants in 1882. Of the rhinoceros, four distinct varieties are enumerated, two with a single, and two with a double horn. The most familiar is the Rhinoceros unicornis, commonly found in the Brahmaputra valley and its wide swamps. It has but one horn, and is covered with massive folds of naked skin. It sometimes attains a height of 6 feet; its horn, which is much prized by the natives for medicinal purposes, seldom exceeds 14 inches in length. It frequents swampy, shady spots, and wallows in mud like a pig. The traditional antipathy of the rhinoceros to the elephant seems to be mythical. The Javan rhinoceros (R. sondaicus) is found in the Sundarbans. It also has but one horn, and mainly differs from the foregoing in being smaller, and having less prominent shields.' The Sumatran rhinoceros (R. sumatrensis) is found from Chittagong southwards through Burma. It has two horns and a bristly coat. The hairy-eared rhinoceros (R. lasiotis) is known from a specimen captured at Chittagong, and sent to the Zoological Gardens, London. Two are at Calcutta. The wild hog (Sus scrofa, var. indica) is well known as affording the most exciting sport in the world-pig-sticking.' It frequents cultivated localities, and is the most mischievous HOG: WILD ASS: SHEEP: GOAT, ETC. 657 enemy which the husbandman has to guard against; doing more damage than elephants, tigers, leopards, deer, and antelope, all put together. A rare animal, called the pigmy hog (Porculia salvania), exists in the tarái of Nepál and Sikkim, and has been shot in Assam. Its height is only 10 inches, and its weight does not exceed 12 lbs. Ass. The wild ass (Equus onager) is confined to the sandy The wild deserts of Sind and Kachchh (Cutch), where, from its speed and timidity, it is almost unapproachable. Many wild species of the sheep and goat tribe are to be Sheep and Goats. found in the Himalayan ranges. The Ovis ammon and O. poli are Tibetan rather than Indian species. The urial and the shapu are kindred species of wild sheep, found respectively in Ladákh and the Suláimán range. The former comes down to 2000 feet above the sea, the latter is never seen at altitudes lower than 12,000 feet. The barhal, or blue wild sheep, and the markhor and tahr (both wild goats) also inhabit the Himalayas. A variety of the ibex is also found there, as well as in the highest ranges of Southern India. The sarau (Nemorhædus rubidus), allied to the chamois, has a wide range in the mountains of the north, from the Himálayas to Assam and Burma. The antelope tribe is represented by comparatively few Antelopes. species, as compared with the great number found in Africa. The antelope proper (Antilope cervicapra), the 'black buck' of sportsmen, is very generally distributed. Its special habitat is salt plains, as on the coast-line of Gujarát (Guzerát) and Orissa, where herds of 50 does may be seen, accompanied by a single buck. The doe is of a light fawn colour, and has no horns. The colour of the buck is a deep brown-black above, sharply marked off from the white of the belly. His spiral horns, twisted for three or four or more turns like a corkscrew, often reach the length of 30 inches. The flesh is dry and unsavoury, but is permitted meat for Hindus, even of the Brahman caste. The four-horned antelope (Tetraceros quadricornis) and the gazelle (Gazella bennettii) are also found in India. The chiru (Pantholops hodgsoni) is confined to the Himalayan plateaux. The nilgai or blue cow (Portax pictus) is also widely dis- Nílgái. tributed, but specially abounds in Hindustán Proper and Gujarát. As with the antelope, the male alone has the dark blue colour. The nilgái is held peculiarly sacred by Hindus, from its fancied kinship to the cow, and on this account its destructive inroads upon the crops are tolerated. The king of the deer tribe is the sámbhar or gerau (Cervus Deer. VOL. VI. 2 T The Bison. The Buffalo. Rat tribe. aristotelis), erroneously called 'elk' by sportsmen. It is found on the forest-clad hills in all parts of the country. It is of a deep-brown colour, with hair on its neck almost like a mane; and it stands nearly 5 feet high, with spreading antlers nearly 3 feet in length. Next in size is the swamp deer or bára - singha, signifying 'twelve points' (Cervus duvaucelli), which is common in Lower Bengal and Assam. The chitál or spotted deer (Cervus axis) is generally admitted to be the most beautiful inhabitant of the Indian jungles. Other species include the hog deer (Cervus porcinus), the barking deer or muntjac (Cervulus muntijac), and the so-called mouse deer (Tragulus meminna). The musk deer (Moschus moschiferus) is confined to Tibet. The ox tribe is represented in India by some of its noblest species. The gaur (Bos gaurus), the 'bison' of sportsmen, is found in all the hill jungles of the country, in the Western Gháts, in Central India, in Assam, and in British Burma. This animal sometimes attains the height of 20 hands (close on 7 feet), measuring from the hump above the shoulder. Its short curved horns and skull are enormously massive. Its colour is dark chestnut, or coffee-brown. From the difficult nature of its habitat, and from the ferocity with which it charges an enemy, the pursuit of the bison is no less dangerous and no less exciting than that of the tiger or the elephant. Akin to the gaur, though not identical, are the gayál or mithún (Bos frontalis), confined to the hills of the north-east frontier, where it is domesticated for sacrificial purposes by the aboriginal tribes; and the tsine or banting (Bos sondaicus), found in Burma. The wild buffalo (Bubalus arni) differs from the tame buffalo only in being larger and more fierce. The finest specimens come from Assam and Burma. The horns of the bull are thicker than those of the cow, but the horns of the cow are larger. A head has been known to measure 13 feet 6 inches in circumference, and 6 feet 6 inches between the tips. The greatest height is 6 feet. The colour is a slaty black; the hide is immensely thick, with scanty hairs. Alone perhaps of all wild animals in India, the buffalo will charge unprovoked. Even tame buffaloes seem to have an inveterate dislike to Europeans. The rat and mouse family is only too numerous. Conspicuous in it is the loathsome bandicoot (Mus bandicota), which sometimes measures 2 feet in length, including its tail, and weighs 3 lbs. It burrows under houses, and is very BIRDS OF PREY: GAME BIRDS. 659 destructive to plants, fruit, and even poultry. More interesting is the tree rat (Mus arboreus), a native of Bengal, about 7 inches long, which makes its nest in cocoa-nut palms and bamboos. The voles or field mice (genus Arvicola) occasionally multiply so exceedingly as to seriously diminish the outturn of the local harvest, and to require special measures for their destruction. The ornithology of India, although it is not considered so Birds. rich in specimens of gorgeous and variegated plumage as that of other tropical regions, contains many splendid and curious varieties. Some are clothed in nature's gay attire, others distinguished by strength, size, and fierceness. The parrot tribe is the most remarkable for beauty. So various are the species, that no attempt is made here even to enumerate them, but the reader is referred for details to the scientific works on the subject.1 Among birds of prey four vultures are found, including the Birds of common scavengers (Gyps indicus and G. bengalensis). The prey. eagles comprise many species, but none to surpass the golden eagle of Europe. Of falcons, there are the peregrine (Falco peregrinus), the shain (Falco peregrinator), and the lagar (Falco jugger), which are all trained by the natives for hawking; of hawks, the shikara (Astur badius), the sparrow hawk (Accipiter nisus), and the crested goshawk (Astur trivirgatus). Kingfishers of various kinds, and herons are sought for their plumage. No bird is more popular with natives than the maina (Acridotheres tristis), a member of the starling family, which lives contentedly in a cage, and can be taught to pronounce words, especially the name of the god Krishna. birds. Waterfowl are especially numerous. Of game-birds, the Game floriken (Sypheotides auritus) is valued as much for its rarity as for the delicacy of its flesh. Snipe (Gallinago scolopacina, etc.) abound at certain seasons, in such numbers that one gun has been known to make a bag of 100 brace in a day. Pigeons, partridges, quail, plover, duck, teal, sheldrake, widgeon-all of many varieties-complete the list of small game. The red jungle fowl (Gallus ferrugineus), supposed to be the ancestor of our own poultry, is not good eating; and the same may be said of the peacock (Pavo cristatus), except when young. The pheasant does not occur in India Proper; but a white variety is found in Burma, and several beautiful species (conspicuously the manaul) abound in the Himálayas. 1 Especially those of Jerdon, Gould, Hume, and Marshall. Reptiles. The Deaths from The serpent tribe in India is numerous; they swarm in the gardens, and intrude into the dwellings of the inhabitants, especially during the rainy season. Most are comparatively harmless, but the bite of others is speedily fatal.1 The cobra di capello-the name given to it by the Portuguese, from the appearance of a hood which it produces by the expanded skin about the neck-is the most dreaded (Naja tripudians). It seldom exceeds 3 or 4 feet in length, and is about an inch and a quarter thick, with a small head, covered on the forepart with large smooth scales; it is of a pale brown colour above, and the belly is of a bluish-white tinged with pale brown or yellow. The Russellian snake (Daboia Russellii), about 4 feet in length, is of a pale yellowish-brown, beautifully variegated with large oval spots of deep brown, with a white edging. Its bite is extremely fatal. Itinerant showmen carry about these serpents, and cause them to assume a dancing motion for the amusement of the spectators. They give out that they render snakes harmless by the use of charms or music-in reality, by extracting the venomous fangs. But, judging from the frequent accidents, they sometimes seem to dispense with this precaution. All the salt-water snakes in India are poisonous, while the fresh-water forms are innocuous. Sir Joseph Fayrer has demonstrated that none of the snake-bite. reputed antidotes will cure the bite of the cobra, if the snake is full-grown, and if its poison fang is full and be not interfered with by clothing. The most hopeful remedy in all cases of snake-bite is the injection of ammonia. The loss of life from this cause in India is painful to contemplate. But the extermination of snakes is attended with great difficulty, from the great number of the species, the character of the country, the rapid undergrowth of jungle, and the scruples of the people. Something, however, is being effected by the Statistics, offer of rewards. In 1877, a total of 16,777 persons are 1877; reported to have been killed by snakes, as compared with only 819 by tigers. In the same year, rewards to the amount of £811 were given for the destruction of 127,295 snakes. In and 1882. 1882, a total of 19,519 persons are reported to have been killed by snakes, as compared with 2606 by tigers, leopards, and all other wild beasts. A sum of £1487 was paid in 1882 for the destruction of 322,421 venomous reptiles. Crocodile. The other reptiles include two varieties of crocodile (C. 1 Sir Joseph Fayrer's Thanatophidia is the standard work on Indian snakes. Vincent Richards' Landmarks of Snake Poison Literature is an excellent compendium. |