Cynopithecus nigrescens, a curious baboon-like monkey if not a
true baboon, which abounds all over Celebes, and is found nowhere
else but in the one small island of Batchian, into which it has
probably been introduced accidentally.
An allied species is found
in the Philippines, but in no other island of the Archipelago is
there anything resembling them. These creatures are about the
size of a spaniel, of a jet-black colour, and have the projecting
dog-like muzzle and overhanging brows of the baboons. They have
large red callosities and a short fleshy tail, scarcely an inch
long and hardly visible. They go in large bands, living chiefly
in the trees, but often descending on the ground and robbing
gardens and orchards.
Anoa depressicornis, the Sapi-utan, or wild cow of the Malays, is
an animal which has been the cause of much controversy, as to
whether it should be classed as ox, buffalo, or antelope. 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.
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