It Is
Smaller Than Any Other Wild Cattle, And In Many Respects Seems To
Approach Some Of The Ox-Like Antelopes Of Africa.
It is found
only in the mountains, and is said never to inhabit places where
there are deer.
It is somewhat smaller than a small Highland cow,
and has long straight horns, which are ringed at the base and
slope backwards over the neck.
The wild pig seems to be of a species peculiar to the island; but
a much more curious animal of this family is the Babirusa or Pig-
deer; so named by the Malays from its long and slender legs, and
curved tusks resembling horns. This extraordinary creature
resembles a pig in general appearance, but it does not dig with
its snout, as it feeds on fallen fruits. The tusks of the lower
jaw are very long and sharp, but the upper ones instead of
growing downwards in the usual way are completely reversed,
growing upwards out of bony sockets through the skin on each side
of the snout, curving backwards to near the eyes, and in old
animals often reaching eight or ten inches in length. It is
difficult to understand what can be the use of these
extraordinary horn-like teeth. Some of the old writers supposed
that they served as hooks, by which the creature could rest its
head on a branch. But the way in which they usually diverge just
over and in front of the eye has suggested the more probable
idea, that they serve to guard these organs from thorns and
spines, while hunting for fallen fruits among the tangled
thickets of rattans and other spiny plants. Even this, however,
is not satisfactory, for the female, who must seek her food in
the same way, does not possess them. I should be inclined to
believe rather, that these tusks were once useful, and were then
worn down as fast as they grew; but that changed conditions of
life have rendered them unnecessary, and they now develop into a
monstrous form, just as the incisors of the Beaver or Rabbit will
go on growing, if the opposite teeth do not wear them away. In
old animals they reach an enormous size, and are generally broken
off as if by fighting.
Here again we have a resemblance to the Wart-hogs of Africa,
whose upper canines grow outwards and curve up so as to form a
transition from the usual mode of growth to that of the Babirusa.
In other respects there seems no affinity between these animals,
and the Babirusa stands completely isolated, having no
resemblance to the pigs of any other part of the world. It is
found all over Celebes and in the Sula islands, and also in
Bourn, the only spot beyond the Celebes group to which it
extends; and which island also shows some affinity to the Sula
islands in its birds, indicating perhaps, a closer connection
between them at some former period than now exists.
The other terrestrial mammals of Celebes are five species of
squirrels, which are all distinct from those of Java and Borneo,
and mark the furthest eastward range of the genus in the tropics;
and two of Eastern opossums (Cuscus), which are different from
those of the Moluccas, and mark the furthest westward extension
of this genus and of the Marsupial order. Thus we see that the
Mammalia of Celebes are no less individual and remarkable than
the birds, since three of the largest and most interesting
species have no near allies in surrounding countries, but seem
vaguely to indicate a relation to the African continent.
Many groups of insects appear to be especially subject to local
influences, their forms and colours changing with each change of
conditions, or even with a change of locality where the
conditions seem almost identical. We should therefore anticipate
that the individuality manifested in the higher animals would be
still more prominent in these creatures with less stable
organisms. On the other hand, however, we have to consider that
the dispersion and migration of insects is much more easily
effected than that of mammals or even of birds. They are much
more likely to be carried away by violent winds; their eggs may
be carried on leaves either by storms of wind or by floating
trees, and their larvae and pupae, often buried in trunks of
trees or enclosed in waterproof cocoons, may be floated for days
or weeks uninjured over the ocean. These facilities of
distribution tend to assimilate the productions of adjacent lands
in two ways: first, by direct mutual interchange of species; and
secondly, by repeated immigrations of fresh individuals of a
species common to other islands, which by intercrossing, tend to
obliterate the changes of form and colour, which differences of
conditions might otherwise produce. Bearing these facts in mind,
we shall find that the individuality of the insects of Celebes is
even greater than we have any reason to expect.
For the purpose of insuring accuracy in comparisons with other
islands, I shall confine myself to those groups which are best
known, or which I have myself carefully studied. Beginning with
the Papilionidae or Swallow-tailed butterflies, Celebes possesses
24 species, of which the large number of 18 are not found in any
other island. If we compare this with Borneo, which out of 29
species has only two not found elsewhere, the difference is as
striking as anything can be. In the family of the Pieridae, or
white butterflies, the difference is not quite so great, owing
perhaps to the more wandering habits of the group; but it is
still very remarkable. Out of 30 species inhabiting Celebes, 19
are peculiar, while Java (from which more species are known than
from Sumatra or Borneo), out of 37 species, has only 13 peculiar.
The Danaidae are large, but weak-flying butterflies, which
frequent forests and gardens, and are plainly but often very
richly coloured. Of these my own collection contains 16 species
from Celebes and 15 from Borneo; but whereas no less than 14 are
confined to the former island, only two are peculiar to the
latter.
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