Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found Part 11

Returning to North America, we find several varieties of the Virginian Deer in the countries lying along the Pacific coast--viz., California, Oregon, and Russian America. These have received trivial names, though it is believed that they are only varieties, as mentioned above. Two, however, appear to be specifically different from the Virginian deer.

One of these is the Mule Deer of the Rocky Mountains--almost as large as the red deer of our own country, and well-known to the trappers of the Upper Missouri. Another is a well-marked species, on account of the length of its tail--whence it has received its hunter appellation of the Long-tailed Deer.

The _Deer of Europe_ are not numerous in species; but if we consider the large herds shut up in parks, they are perhaps as plentiful in numbers as elsewhere, over a like extent of territory.

The _Reindeer_ and _Elk_, as already stated, are both indigenous to Europe; so also the _Stag_ or _Red Deer_, the greatest ornament of our parks. The red deer runs wild in Scotland, and in most of the great forests of Europe and Asia. There are also varieties of this n.o.ble animal, a small one being found in the mountains of Corsica.

The _Fallow-Deer_ is too well-known to need description. It is enough to say that it exists wild in most countries of Europe, our own excepted. Into this country it is supposed to have been introduced from Denmark.

The _Roebuck_, another species of our parks, is indigenous to both England and Scotland. It is now found plentiful only in the northern parts of Great Britain. It is a native also of Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Siberia.

The _African Deer_ consist of two species, supposed to be varieties of red deer. They are found in Barbary, and usually known as the Barbary Deer. But the fallow-deer also exists in North Africa, in the woods of Tunis and Algiers; and Cuvier has a.s.serted that the fallow-deer originally came from Africa. This is not probable, since they are at present met with over the whole continent of Asia, even in China itself.

We now arrive at the species more especially termed _Asiatic_ or _Indian Beer_. These form a numerous group, containing species that differ essentially from each other.

There is the _Ritsa_, or Great Black Stag of the j.a.panese and Sumatrans.

It is named _black_ stag, from its dark brown colour during winter. It is fully as large as our own stag; and is further distinguished by long hair growing upon the upper part of its neck, cheeks, and throat, which gives it the appearance of having a beard and mane! It inhabits Bengal, and some of the large Indian islands.

The _Samboo_, or _Sambur_, is another large species, not unlike the rusa. It is found in various parts of India, and especially in the tropical island of Ceylon. Several varieties of it have been described by naturalists.

In the Himalaya Mountains there exist two or three species of large deer, not very well-known. One is the Saul Forest Stag, or Bara-singa-- a species almost as large as the Canadian wapiti. Another is the Marl, or Wallich's Stag, which is also found in Persia. Still another species, the Sika, inhabits j.a.pan; and yet another, the Baringa, or Spotted Deer of the Sunderbunds, dwells along the marshy rivers of this last-mentioned territory. Again, there is the Spotted Rusa, and other species, inhabitants of the Saul Forests. In fact, the number of species of Indian deer is far from being accurately ascertained, to say nothing of the very imperfect descriptions given of those that are actually known.

When we come to the great Oriental islands--the Isles of Ind--we find many new and beautiful species; some being large n.o.ble stags, while others are tiny graceful little creatures like gazelles.

In Sumatra and Borneo we have a distinct species of Sambur Deer; in Timor a smaller one; a third exists in Java; and a fourth in the Philippines. In Java, too, we find the beautiful little Muntjak; and another tiny variety in China, called the Chinese Muntjak.

Returning again to the Himalaya country, we encounter, in the plains south of this great chain, the Spotted Axis, so well-known from its beautiful markings, which resemble those of the fawn of our own fallow-deer. But it may be remarked that there are two or three species of spotted deer, and that they inhabit the plains of India--from the Himalayas southward to the Island of Ceylon. Ascending these great mountains, we encounter among their lower slopes another very singular species of cervine creature--the Musk Deer--which, though but little known, is one of the most interesting of its tribe; especially so, as it is from the secreting glands of this curious little animal that most of the celebrated perfume of commerce is obtained.

Crossing the Himalayas, and advancing northwards, we find upon the plains of Central Asia a species of deer, known among the Tartars as Siaga, and to our own naturalists as the Tail-less Roe. Several species entirely unknown to scientific men will yet be discovered, when the immense steppes of Asia come to be explored by observers capable of describing and cla.s.sifying.

Like many another genus of animals, a complete monograph of the deer tribe would be of itself the labour of a life.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

QUADRUPEDS WITH POCKETS.

In the year 1711 was brought to France, from the Island of New Guinea, an animal of an unknown species, and one that was singular in many respects; but especially so, from the fact of its having a double skin, covering a part of its belly, and forming a sort of pocket or pouch.

This animal was Le Brun's Kangaroo; very properly named after the naturalist who first described it, since it was the first of the marsupial or pouched animals known to the scientific world.

The Opossums of America were afterwards scientifically described; but it is only of late years that the numerous species and genera of pouched animals--const.i.tuting almost the entire mammalia of the Australian world--have become generally known to Europeans.

The peculiarity of the _pouched_ animals is in reality the _pouch_, common to all of them. Otherwise they differ in many respects--some being carnivorous, others graminivorous, others insectivorous, and so on. In fact, among them we have forms a.n.a.logous to almost all the different groups of ordinary mammalia. Some naturalists have even cla.s.sified them in the different groups, but with little success; and it is perhaps better to keep them together, retaining the "pouch" as the common characteristic.

The marsupial animals bring forth their young before they are fully developed. The mother places the mouth, of what is little more than a foetus, to her teat; and there it remains till it is able to go alone.

The pouch covers the teats, and serves to protect the young, while the process of development is going on. Even after the little ones are able to run about, they continue to use this singular nest as a place of repose, and a refuge in case of attack by an enemy!

The pouched animals are not entirely confined to the Australian island.

The large island of New Guinea possesses some of them; and there are species in Java, and others of the Asiatic islands. America (both North and South) has the opossums, in numerous species; but it is in Australia, and the contiguous islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Guinea, that we find both the genera and species in greatest numbers.

These countries are, in fact, the head-quarters of the marsupial animals.

The true genera are not numerous, though the species of most of them are; and it is but natural to suppose that many new ones--both genera and species--will yet be discovered, when the vast _terra incognita_ of Australia comes to be explored. In fact, every expedition into the interior brings home with it some new animal that carries a pouch!

As the opossums were the first of these animals whose habits became generally known to Europeans, we shall speak first of them; and it may be remarked, that although there are several species in the Australian countries resembling the true opossums, and are even called opossums, yet among naturalists the name is usually limited to the pouched animals of America.

The old writer, Lawson, gives as succinct an account of the habits of the best known species--the Virginia opossum--as may be found anywhere.

We shall adopt it _verbatim_:--"The possum," says he, "is found nowhere but in America. She is the wonder of all the land animals--being of the size of a badger, and near that colour. The female, doubtless, breeds her young at her teats, for I have seen them stuck fast thereto when they have been no bigger than a small raspberry, and seemingly inanimate. She has a paunch, or false belly, wherein she carries her young, after they are from those teats, till they can shift for themselves.

"Their food is roots, poultry, or wild fruits. They have no hair on their tails, but a sort of scale or hard crust, as the beavers have. If a cat has nine lives, this creature surely has nineteen; for if you break every bone in their skin, and smash their skull, leaving them quite dead, you may come an hour after and they will be quite gone away, or, perhaps, you may meet them creeping away. They are a very stupid creature, utterly neglecting their safety. They are most like rats than anything. I have for necessity, in the wilderness, eaten of them.

Their flesh is very white and well-tasted, but their ugly tails put me out of conceit with that fare. They climb trees as the rac.o.o.ns do.

Their fur is not esteemed or used, save that the Indians spin it into girdles and gaiters."

Bating the exaggeration about their tenacity of life, and also the error as to their mode of bringing forth, the above account hits off the opossum to a nicety. Lawson might have added that their tails are highly prehensile, and are not only used for suspending them to the branches of trees, but also employed by the female for holding her young upon her back--in which fashion she often carries them about.

The flesh of the opossum is not only eatable, but much eaten, and even sought after as a delicacy both by negroes and whites.

It is surprising how the number of species of this animal has lately multiplied, under the research of naturalists. Perhaps no creature ill.u.s.trates more forcibly the folly of setting limits to the species of animals, by simply trusting to the account of those known or described.

Over thirty species have been found in America, of which five or six belong to the northern division of the continent. The tropical region is their head-quarters; but they are not confined to the torrid zone, since there are species existing everywhere, from Canada to Chili.

Another form of pouched animal that can scarcely be called an opossum is the Yapock of tropical South America. It is a smaller animal than the opossum, aquatic in its habits, and in fact approaches nearer to the family of the water-rats. Of this, too, there are several species.

Crossing to Australia we find the pouched animals, as already observed, of several different and very dissimilar genera.

Taking them in the usual order of mammalia, we have three kinds truly carnivorous. First, the Tasmanian wolf, a creature which possesses all the fierce attributes of his synonyme, and is, in fact, a wolf, only one who carries a pocket. He is an animal as active as fierce, and lives by preying on the kangaroos and other kindred animals. He is also troublesome to the breeders of sheep; as, since the introduction of these innocent animals to his country, he appears to have formed a preference for mutton over kangaroo flesh. Fortunately his range is not extensive, as he is confined to the island of Van Dieman's Land, and has not been observed elsewhere. Only one species has been yet discovered.

Another pouched animal, equally carnivorous, is the Ursine Opossum.

This is a burrowing creature about the size of a badger, and of equally voracious habits.

In some places it proves extremely destructive to the poultry of the settler, though it will also eat carca.s.s, or dead fish--in short, anything.

In a state of captivity it will not submit to be tamed, biting everything that comes near it, at the same time uttering a sort of yelling growl. Small though it be, in many of its actions and habits it resembles the bear, and might be regarded as the Australian representative of the ursine family; but several of its species approach nearer to the weasels--for it is not so poor in species as the Tasmanian wolf, there being at least five kinds of it in Australia and Van Dieman's Land. One variety of it is distinguished by the name of Native Devil!

Another genus of Australian _carnivora_ is in the Phascogals. These animals are smaller than the last, and dwell upon trees like squirrels.

From their having bushy tails, they might readily be mistaken for animals of the squirrel kind; but their habits are entirely different-- since to birds, and other small game, they are as destructive as the weasel itself.

After the true carnivora come the Bandicoots. These are named after the great bandicoot rat of India, to which the early settlers fancied they bore a resemblance. They are insect-eaters, and represent in Australia the shrews and tenrecs of the Old World. They also feed upon roots and bulbs, which with their strong claws they are enabled to scratch up out of the ground. Their mode of progression is by leaps--not like those of the kangaroo, but still more resembling the pace of a rabbit or hare-- and they appear to prefer mountainous regions for their habitat. There are several species of them in Australia and the adjacent islands.

The Phalangers, or Fox Opossums, come next in order. These creatures are so called from a sort of resemblance which they bear to the well-known Reynard; but, fortunately, the resemblance does not extend to their habits, as they are all supposed to be innocent creatures, living on fruits and seeds, and climbing trees for the purpose of obtaining them. The true Vulpine Opossum--which is a native of Australia, near Port Jackson--is very much like a small fox; but there are two sub-genera of the phalangers that differ much from this form. One of these is the Scham-scham, a very beautiful spotted creature found in the Molucca and Papuan islands. Several other species of phalangers inhabit these and other Asiatic islands, especially Celebes and New Ireland.

The other sub-genus is that of the Flying Squirrels, usually known as Norfolk Island Flying Squirrels, though it is not even certain that they inhabit the last-mentioned island. It needs only to be said that these animals are very much like other flying squirrels; and in fact they _are_ squirrels, only squirrels of the marsupial kind. There are several species already described.

Another pouched animal is the Koala, or Ashy Koala as it is called. It differs in appearance from all the others, being of stout make, and almost without a tail. It is not unlike the bear in its form and movements; but its bulk is scarce equal to that of a moderate sized dog.

It can climb trees with great facility, though it makes its lodgment among their roots, in a den which it hollows out for itself. Its food is supposed to be fruits, and very likely it is the Australian representative of the _frugivorous_ bears. It has the singular habit of carrying its young one upon its back, after the latter has grown too large to be conveniently stowed away in the pouch. Two species of koala have been spoken of, but as yet one only is described and certainly known.

The Wombat is another animal of thick stout form, and also without tail.

It is a slow creature, easily overtaken by a man on foot. It burrows in the ground. During the day it remains in its hole, issuing forth only at night to procure its food, which consists mainly of herbage.

There is but one species known, belonging to both Van Dieman's Land and New South Wales.