NAME.--_Wet-woon_, Arracan.

HABITAT.--Burmah, Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands.

[Figure: _Ursus Malayanus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Smaller than _U. torquatus_, not exceeding four and
a half feet in length. Fur black, brownish on the nose; the chest
marked with a white crescent, or, in the Bornean variety, an
orange-coloured heart-shaped patch; the claws are remarkably long;
mouth and lower jaw dirty white; the lower part of the crescent
prolonged in a narrow white streak down to the belly, where it is
widened out into a large irregular spot. Marsden, in his 'History
of Sumatra,' published towards the end of the last century, speaks
of this bear under the name of _Bruang_ (query: is our _Bruin_ derived
from this?), and mentions its habit of climbing the cocoa-nut trees
to devour the tender part, or cabbage.

It is more tamable and docile than the Himalayan Sun Bear, and is
even more eccentric in its ways. The one in the London "Zoo," when
given a biscuit, lies down on its back, and passes it about from fore
to hind paws, eyeing it affectionately, and making most comical
noises as it rolls about. Sir Stamford Raffles writes of one which
was in his possession for two years:--"He was brought up in the
nursery with the children; and when admitted to my table, as was
frequently the case, gave a proof of his taste by refusing to eat
any fruit but mangosteens, or to drink any wine but champagne. The
only time I ever knew him out of humour was on an occasion when no
champagne was forthcoming. He was naturally of a playful and
affectionate disposition, and it was never found necessary to chain
or chastise him. It was usual for this bear, the cat, the dog, and
a small blue mountain bird, or lory, of New Holland, to mess together
and eat out of the same dish. His favourite playfellow was the dog,
whose teasing and worrying was always borne, and returned with the
utmost good humour and playfulness. As he grew up he became a very
powerful animal, and in his rambles in the garden he would lay hold
of the largest plantains, the stems of which he could scarcely
embrace, and tear them up by the roots." The late General A. C.
McMaster gives an equally amusing account of his pet of this species
which was obtained in Burmah. "Ada," he writes, "is never out of
temper, and always ready to play with any one. While she was with
me, 'Ada' would not eat meat in any shape; but I was told by one of
the ship's officers that another of the same