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PENINSULA
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V14,
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PENINSULA . 4. The western See also: India type is difficult to characterize, and is in many respects intermediate between the two just preceding. It occupies a comparatively dry See also:area, with a rainfall under 75 in. in. In respect to See also:positive See also:affinities, See also:Sir See also:Joseph See also:
The months of See also: November and See also:December See also:form a transition See also:period between the monsoon and the See also:cold season. The most unhealthy period of the See also:year follows immediately after the rains, when See also:malaria is prevalent, especially in See also:northern India. See also:Fauna. Mammals.—First among the wild animals of India must be mentioned the See also:lion (Felis See also:leo), which is known to have been not Lion. uncommon within See also:historical times in Hindustan proper and the See also:Punjab. At present the lion is confined to the Gir, or rocky See also:
The advance of cultivation, even more than the incessant attacks of sportsmen, has gradually caused the tiger to become a rare See also: animal in large tracts of country; but it is scarcely probable that he will ever be exterminated from India. The inalarious tarsi fringing the Himalayas, the uninhabitable swamps of the Gangetic See also:delta, and the wide jungles of the central See also:plateau are at present the See also:chief See also:home of the tiger. His favourite See also:food appears to be See also:deer, See also:antelope and wild hog. When these abound he will disregard domestic See also:cattle. Indeed, the natives are disposed to consider him as in some sort their See also:protector, as he saves their crops from destruction by the wild animals on which he feeds. But when once he develops a See also:taste for human See also:blood, then the slaughter he See also:works becomes truly formidable. The confirmed See also:man-eater, which is generally an old beast, disabled from overtaking his usual prey, seems to accumulate his See also:tale of victims in sheer See also:cruelty rather than for food. A single tiger is known to have killed Io8 See also:people in the course of three years. Another killed an average of about 8o persons per annum. A third caused thirteen villages to be abandoned, and 250 sq. m. of See also:land to be thrown out of cultivation. A See also:fourth, in 1869, killed 127 people, and stopped a public road for many See also:weeks, until the opportune arrival of an See also:English sportsman, who at last killed him. Such cases are, of course, exceptional, and generally refer to a period See also:long past, but they explain and justify the superstitious See also:awe with which the tiger is regarded by the natives.The favourite mode of See also: shooting the tiger is from the back of elephants, or from elevated platforms (machans) of boughs in the See also:jungle. In Central India they are shot on See also:foot. In See also:Assam they are sometimes speared from boats, and in the Himalayas they are said to be ensnared by See also:bird-See also:lime. Rewards are given by See also:government to native shikdris for the heads of tigers, varying in time and See also:place according to the need. In 1903 the number of persons killed by tigers in the whole of India was 866, while See also:forty years previously 700 people were said to be killed annually in Bengal alone. The See also:leopard or See also:panther (F. Pardus) is far more common than the tiger in all parts of India, and at least equally destructive to See also:life Leopard, and See also:property. The greatest length of the leopard is about 7 ft. 6 in. A See also:black variety, as beautiful as it is rare, is sometimes found in the extreme See also:south of the peninsula, and also in See also:Java. The See also:cheetah or See also:hunting leopard (Cynaelurus jubalus) must be carefully distinguished from the leopard proper. This animal appears to be a native only of the See also:Deccan, where it is trained for hunting the antelope.In some respects it approaches the See also: dog more nearly than the See also:cat tribe. Its limbs are long, its See also:hair rough, and its claws See also:blunt and only partially retractile. The See also:speed with which it See also:bounds upon its prey, when loosed from the See also:cart, exceeds the swiftness of any other mammal. If it misses its first attack, it scarcely ever attempts to follow, but returns to its See also:master. Among other species of the See also:family Felidae found in India may be mentioned the See also:ounce or See also:snow leopard (F. uncia), the clouded leopard (F. nebulosa), the marbled cat (F. marmorata), the jungle cat (F. chaus), and the viverrine cat (F. viverrina). Wolves (Canis See also:lupus) abound throughout the open country, but are rare in the wooded districts. Their favourite prey is See also:sheep, but See also:Wolf tribe. they are also said to run down antelopes and See also:hares, or rather catch them by lying in See also:ambush. Instances of their attacking man are not uncommon, and the See also:story of See also:Romulus and Remus has had its counterpart in India within comparatively See also:recent times. The See also:Indian wolf has a dingy reddish-See also:
The jackal, and not the fox, is usually the animal hunted by the packs of hounds occasionally kept by Europeans. - The wild dog, or dhole (Cyon), is found in all the wilder jungles of India, including Assam and See also: Lower See also:Burma. Its characteristic is that Dos it hunts in packs, sometimes containing See also:thirty See also:dogs, and does not give See also:tongue. When once a See also:pack of wild dogs has put up any animal, that animal's See also:doom is sealed. They do notleave it for days, and finally bring it to bay, or run it down exhausted. A peculiar variety of wild dog exists in the See also:Karen hills of Burma, thus described from a specimen in confinement. It was black and white, as hairy as a See also:skye-terrier, and as large as a See also:medium-sized spaniel. It had an invariable See also:habit of digging a hole in the ground, into which it crawled backwards, remaining there all See also:day with only its nose and ferrety eyes visible. Among other dogs of India are the See also:pariah, which is merely a See also:mongrel, run wild and See also:half starved; the poligar dog, an immense creature peculiar to the south; the See also:grey-See also:hound, used for See also:coursing; and the mastiff of See also:Tibet and See also:Bhutan. The striped hyaena (Hyaena striata) is common, being found wherever the wolf is absent. Like the wolf, it is very destructive both to the flocks and to See also:children. Of bears, the common black or See also:sloth See also:bear (Melursus See also:ursinus) is common throughout India wherever rocky hills and forests occur.It is distinguished by a white See also: horse-See also:shoe See also:mark on its Bear. See also:breast. Its food consists of ants, See also:honey and See also:fruit. When disturbed it will attack man, and it is a dangerous antagonist, for it always strikes at the See also:face. The Himalayan or Tibetan See also:sun bear (Ursus torquatus) is found along the north, from the Punjab to Assam. During the summer it remains high up in the mountains, near the limit of snow, but in the See also:winter it descends to 5000 ft. and even lower. Its congener, the Malayan sun bear (U. malayanus), is found in Lower Burma. The See also:elephant (Elephas indicus) is found in many parts of India, though not in the north-See also:west. Contrary to what might be anticipated from its See also:size and from the habits of its See also:African See also:cousin, See also:file phaat. the Indian elephant is now, at any See also:rate, an inhabitant, not of the plains, but of the hills; and even on the hills it is usually found among the higher ridges and plateaus, and not in the valleys. From the peninsula of India the elephant has been gradually exterminated,. being only found now in the primeval forests of See also:Coorg, Mysore and See also:Travancore, and in the tributary See also:state of See also:Orissa. It still exists in places along the See also:lara:i or submontane fringe of the Himalayas. The See also:main source of See also:supply at the present time is the confused See also:mass of hills which forms the north-east boundary of See also:British India, from Assam to Burma. Two varieties are there distinguished, the gunda or tusker, and the makna or hive, which has no tusks.The reports of the height of the elephant, like those of its intelligence, seem to be exaggerated. The maximum is probably 12 ft. If hunted, the elephant must be attacked on foot, and the See also: sport is therefore dangerous, especially as the animal has but few parts vulnerable to a See also:bullet. The See also:regular mode of catching elephants is by means of a See also:keddah, or gigantic stockade, into which a wild See also:herd is driven, then starved into submission, and tamed by animals already domesticated. The practice of capturing them in pitfalls is discouraged as cruel and wasteful. Elephants now form a government See also:monopoly everywhere in 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 See also:special See also:law, under the See also:title of " The Elephants Preservation See also:Act " (No. VI. of 1879), regulates this licensing See also:system. Whoever kills, captures or injures an elephant, or attempts to do so, without a See also:licence, is punishable by a See also:fine of 500 rupees for the first offence; and a similar fine, together with six months' imprisonment, for a second offence. Though the supply is decreasing, elephants continue to be in See also:great demand. Their chief use is in the timber See also:trade and for government transport.They are also bought up by native chiefs at high prices for purposes of ostentation. Of the See also: rhinoceros, three distinct varieties are enumerated, two with a single and one with a See also:double See also:horn. The most See also:familiar is the Rhinoceros unicornis, commonly found in the See also:Brahmaputra Rhino- valley. It has but one horn, and is covered with. massive ceros. folds of naked skin. It sometimes attains a height of 6 ft.; its horn, which is much prized by the natives for medicinal purposes, seldom exceeds 14 in. in length. It frequents swampy, shady spots, and wallows in mud like a See also:pig. The traditional antipathy of the rhinoceros to the elephant seems to be mythical. The Javan rhinoceros (R. sondaicus) is found in the Sundarbans and also in Burma. It also has but one horn, and mainly differs from the foregoing in being smaller, and having less prominent " See also:shields." The Sumatran rhinoceros (R. sumatrensis) is found from See also:Chittagong southwards through Burma. It has two horns and a bristly coat. The wild hog (See also:Sus cristatus) is well known as affording the most exciting sport in the See also:world—" pig-sticking." It frequents cultivated situations, and is the most mischievous enemy of the Wild ho& villager. A rare animal, called the pigmy hog (S. sal- vanius), exists in the tarsi of See also:Nepal and See also:Sikkim, and has been shot in Assam.Its height is only lo in., and its See also: weight does not exceed 12 lb. The wild See also:ass (Equus hemionus) is confined to the sandy deserts of See also:Sind and See also:Cutch, where, from its speed and timidity, wild ass. it is almost unapproachable. Many wild species of the sheep and See also:goat tribe are to be found in the Himalayan ranges. The Ovis See also:ammon and O. poli are Tibetan rather than Indian species. The urial and the shapu are Sheep and kindred species of wild sheep (Ovis vignei), found respec- goats. tively in Ladakh and the See also:Suleiman range. The former comes down to 2000 ft. above the sea, the latter is never seen at altitudes lower than 12,000 ft. The barhal, or See also:blue wild sheep (O. nahura), and the See also:markhor and See also:tahr (both wild goats), also inhabit the Himalayas. A variety of the See also:ibex is also found there,,as well as in the highest ranges of southern India. The sarau (Nemorhaedus bubalinus), allied to the See also:chamois, has a wide range in the mountains of the north, from the Himalayas to Assam and Burma. The antelope tribe is represented by comparatively few species, as compared with the great number peculiar to Africa. The antelope Antelopes.Proper (Antilope), the " black See also: buck " of sportsmen, is very generally distributed. Its special See also:habitat is See also:salt plains, as on the See also:coast-See also:line of See also:Gujarat and Orissa, where herds of fifty does may be seen, accompanied by a single buck. The doe is of a See also:light fawn See also:colour and has no horns. The colour of the buck is a deep See also:
It is of a deep-brown colour, with hair on its See also: neck almost like a mane; and it stands nearly 5 ft. high, with spreading antlers nearly 3 ft. in length. Next in size is the swamp deer or bara-singha, signifying " twelve points " (C. duvauceli), which is common in Lower Bengal and Assam. The chital or spotted deer (C. See also:axis) is generally admitted to be the most beautiful inhabitant of the Indian jungles. Other species include the hog deer (C. porcinus), the See also:barking deer or See also:muntjac (Cervulus muntjac), and the See also:chevrotain or See also:mouse deer (Tragulus meminna). The See also:musk deer (See also:Moschus moschiferus) is confined to Tibet. The ox tribe is represented in India by some of its noblest species. The See also:gaur (See also:Bos gaurus), the " bison " of sportsmen, is found in all Bison. the hill jungles of the country, in the Western Ghats, in Central India, in Assam, and in Burma. This animal sometimes attains the height of 20 hands (See also:close on 7 ft.), measuring from the hump above the See also:shoulder. Its See also:short curved horns and See also:skull are enormously massive. Its colour is dark See also:chestnut, or See also: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 tothegaur, though not identical, are the gaydl or mithun (B. 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 (B. sondaicus), found in Burma.The wild See also: buffalo (Bos Buffalo. bubalus) differs from the tame buffalo only in being larger and more fierce. The finest specimens come from Assam and Burma. The horns of the See also:bull are thicker than those of the cow, but the horns of the cow are larger. A See also:head has been known to measure 13 ft. 6 in. in circumference, and 6 ft. 6 in. between the tips. The greatest height is 6 ft. 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 See also:charge unprovoked. Even tame buffaloes seem to have an inveterate dislike to Europeans. The See also:rat and mouse family is only too numerous. Conspicuous in it is the loathsome See also:bandicoot (Nesocia bandicota), which sometimes Rat trihe. measures 2 ft. in length, including its tail, and weighs 3 lb.It burrows under houses, and is very destructive to See also: plants, fruit and even poultry. More interesting is the See also:tree mouse (Vandeleusia), about 7 in. long, which makes its See also:nest in palms and bamboos. The See also:
Of See also: game-birds, the floriken (Sypheotis aurita) is valued as much for its rarity as for the delicacy of its flesh. See also:Snipe (Gullinago coelestis) abound at certain seasons, in such See also:numbers that one See also:gun has been known to make a bag of onehundred See also:brace in a day. Pigeons, partridges, See also:quail, See also:plover, See also:duck, See also:teal, sheldrake, widgeon—all of many varieties—See also:complete the See also:list of small game. The red jungle fowl (See also:Gallus ferrugineus), supposed to be the ancestor of our own poultry, is not good eating; and the same may be said of the See also:peacock (Pavo cristatus), except when See also:young. The See also:pheasant does not occur in India Proper, though a white variety is found in Burma. See also:Reptiles.—The See also:serpent tribe in India is numerous; they swarm in all the gardens, and intrude into the dwellings of the inhabitants, especially in the rainy season. Most are comparatively Reptile, harmless, but the bite of others is speedily fatal. The See also:cobra di capello (Naia tripudians)—the name given to it by the Portuguese, from the See also:appearance of a See also:hood which it produces by the See also:expanded skin about the neck—is the most dreaded. It seldom exceeds 3 or 4 ft. in length, and is about if in. thick, with a small head, covered on the forepart with large smooth scales; it is of a See also:pale brown colour above, and the belly is of a bluish-white tinged with pale brown or yellow. The Russelian snake (Vipera russellii), about 4 ft. in length, is of a pale yellowish-brown, beautifully variegated with large See also: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 See also:motion for the amusement of the spectators.They also give out that they render See also: snakes harmless by the use of charms or See also:music,—in reality it is by extracting the venomous fangs. But, judging from the frequent accidents which occur, they sometimes dispense with this precaution. All the salt-water snakes in India are poisonous, while the fresh-water forms are wholly innocuous. The other reptiles include two species of See also:crocodile (C. porosus and C. palustris) and the ghariyal (Gavialis gangeticus). These are more ugly in appearance than destructive to human life. Scorpions also abound. Fishes.—All the See also:waters of India—the sea, the See also:rivers and the tanks —swarm with a great variety of fishes, which are caught in every conceivable way, and furnish a considerable proportion of Fishes. the food of the poorer classes. They are eaten fresh, or as nearly fresh as may be, for the See also:art of curing them is not generally practised, owing to the exigencies of the salt monopoly. In Burma the favourite relish of nga-pi is prepared from See also:fish; and at Goalanda, at the junction of the Brahmaputra with the See also:Ganges, and along the See also:Madras coast many establishments exist for salting fish in See also:bond. The indiscriminate slaughter of See also:fry, and the obstacles opposed by See also:irrigation dams to breeding fish, are said to be causing a sensible diminution in the supply in certain rivers. Measures of conservancy have been suggested, but their See also:execution would be almost impracticable.Among Indian fishes, the Cyprinidae or See also: carp family and the Siluridae or cat-fishes are best represented. From the See also:angler's point of view, by far the finest fish is the See also:mahseer (Barbustor), found in all hill streams, whether in Assam, the Punjab or the South. One has been caught weighing 60 lb, which gave See also:play for more than seven See also:hours. Though called the See also:salmon of India, the mahseer is really a species of See also:barbel. One of the richest and most delicious of Indian fishes is the hilsa (Clupea ilisha), which tastes and looks like a See also:fat white salmon. But the enhanced See also:price of fish and the decreased supply throughout the country are matters of See also:grave concern both to the government and the people. See also:Insects.—The See also:insect tribes in India may be truly said to be in-numerable. The See also:heat and the rains give incredible activity to noxious or troublesome insects, and to others of a more showy class, whose large wings surpass in brilliancy the most splendid See also:colours of art. Mosquitoes are innumerable, and moths and ants of the most destructive See also:kind, as well as others equally noxious and disagreeable. Amongst those which are useful are the See also:bee, the See also:silk-See also:worm, and the insect that produces See also:lac. Clouds of locusts occasionally appear, which leave no trace of See also:green behind them, and give the country over which they pass the appearance of a desert. Their size is about that of a man's See also:finger, and their colour reddish.They are swept north by the wind till they strike upon the See also: outer ranges of the Himalayas.Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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