e Indian region, pigs alone extend beyond the Moluccas and as far as
New Guinea, although it is somewhat curious that they have not found
their way to Australia.

The little shrew, Sorex myosurus, which is common in Sumatra, Borneo,
and Java, is also found in the larger islands of the Moluccas, to which
it may have been accidentally conveyed in native praus.

This completes the list of the placental mammals which are so
characteristic of the Indian region; and we see that, with the single
exception of the pig, all may very probably have been introduced by
man, since all except the pig are of species identical with those now
abounding in the great Malay islands, or in Celebes.

The four remaining mammals are Marsupials, an order of the class
Mammalia, which is very characteristic of the Australian fauna; and
these are probably true natives of the Moluccas, since they are either
of peculiar species, or if found elsewhere are natives only of New
Guinea or North Australia. The first is the small flying opossum,
Belideus ariel, a beautiful little animal, exactly line a small flying
squirrel in appearance, but belonging to the marsupial order. The other
three are species of the curious genus Cuscus, which is peculiar to
the Austro-Malayan region. These are opossum-like animals, with a long
prehensile tail, of which the terminal half is generally bare. They have
small heads, large eyes, and a dense covering of woolly fur, which is
often pure white with irregular black spots or blotches, or sometimes
ashy brown with or without white spots. They live in trees, feeding
upon the leaves, of which they devour large quantities, they move about
slowly, and are difficult to kill, owing to the thickness of their fur,
and their tenacity of life. A heavy charge of shot will often lodge in
the slain and do them no harm, and even breaking the spine or piercing
the brain will not kill them for some hours. The natives everywhere
eat their flesh, and as their motions are so slow, easily catch them by
climbing; so that it is wonderful they have not been exterminated. It
may be, however, that their dense woolly fur protects them from birds of
prey, and the islands they live in are too thinly inhabited for man to
be able to exterminate them. The figure represents Cuscus ornatus, a new
species discovered by me in Batchian, and which also inhabits Ternate.
It is peculiar to the Moluccas, while the two other species which
inhabit Ceram are found a