Part 71 (1/2)

_Hystrix_--Inter-max. broad, truncated, wide behind as before; _grinders_ oblong, longer than broad, one fold on the inner, and three or four on the outer side.

_Acanthion_--Inter-max. triangular, tapering behind; _grinders_ sub-cylindrical, not longer than broad, one fold on the inner, two or three on the outer side.

According to Waterhouse the European porcupine (_Hystrix cristata_ of Linnaeus) is the _Acanthion Cuvieri_ of Gray; and Gray, who afterwards modified his views of 1847 in 1866, wrote of it: ”I am not aware of any external characters by which this species can be distinguished from the _Hystrix cristata_, though the skull is so different.” Gray in another place writes that: ”Though the skulls of _H. leucurus_ preserve a very distinct character, yet they vary so much amongst themselves as to show that skulls afford no better character for the distinction of species than any other single character, such as colour, but can only be depended on when taken in connection with the rest of the organisation.” In these circ.u.mstances I think it will be better not to attempt any further subdivision of the Indian porcupines in the present work beyond the two already given, viz. _Hystrix_ and _Atherura_. There is a great similarity between the Indian _H. leucura_ and the European _H.

cristata_. According to Waterhouse the quills in the lumbar region, which are white in the Indian, are dusky in the European, which last has long white points to the bristles of the crest, whereas in the Indian one some only of the points are white, and the rest quite brown.

The Indian porcupine lives in burrows, in banks, hill sides, on the bunds of tanks, and in the sides of rivers and nullahs. It is nocturnal in its habits, and in the vicinity of cultivation does much damage to such garden stuff as consists of tubers or roots. In the jungle its food consists chiefly of roots, especially of some kinds of wild yam (_Dioscorea_). I have found porcupines in the densest bamboo jungles of the central provinces, where their food was doubtless young bamboo shoots and various kind of roots.

The porcupine all the world over is known to be good eating, and is in many countries esteemed a delicacy. The flesh is white and tender, and is much prized by most people in those places where it abounds.

Brigadier-General McMaster, in his 'Notes on Jerdon,' in speaking of the only instance where he found a porcupine on the move after daylight, says: ”Just at dawn a porcupine appeared, and, as I suppose his house was somewhere between us, trotted and fed, grunting hog-like, about the little valley at our feet until long after the sun was well up, and until I, despairing of other game, and bearing in mind his delicious flesh (for that of a porcupine is the most delicate I know of), shot him. Well may the flesh be tender and of delicate flavour, for, as many gardeners know to their cost, porcupines are most scrupulously dainty and epicurean as to their diet. A pine-apple is left by them until the very night before it is fit to be cut. Peas, potatoes, onions, &c., are not touched until the owner has made up his mind that they were just ready for the table.” The Gonds in Seonee were always on the lookout for a porcupine.

I described in my book on that district the digging out of one.

”The entrance of the animal's abode was a hole in a bank at which the dogs were yelping and scratching; but the bipeds had gone more scientifically to work by countermining from above, sinking shafts downwards at various points, till at last they reached his inner chamber, when he scuttled out, and, charging backwards at the dogs with all his spines erected, he soon sent them flying, howling most piteously; but a Gondee axe hurled at his head soon put an end to his career, for a porcupine's skull is particularly tender.”

The female produces from two to four young, which are born with their eyes open. Their bodies are covered with short soft spines, which, however, speedily harden. It is said that the young do not remain long with their mother, but I cannot speak to this from personal experience. I have had young ones, but not those born in captivity.

NO. 404. HYSTRIX BENGALENSIS.

_The Bengal Porcupine_ (_Jerdon's No. 205_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Sajaru_ or _Sajru_, Bengali.

DESCRIPTION.--”Smaller than the last; crest small and thin; the bristles blackish; body spines much flattened and strongly grooved, terminating in a slight seta Or bristle; slender flexible quills much fewer than in _leucura_, white, with a narrow black band about the centre; the thick quills basally white, the rest black, mostly with a white tip; a distinct white demi-collar; spines of lumbar region white, as are those of tail and rattle; muzzle less hirsute than in _leucura_.”

SIZE.--Head and body, 28 inches; tail, 8 inches.

There is occasionally a variety to be found of this species with orange-coloured quills, or rather the orange hue is a.s.sumed at times.

Jerdon mentions the fact that Sclater describes his _H. Malabarica_ as having certain orange-coloured quills in place of white, and also that Blyth considered the two species identical. He also states that Mr. Day procured specimens of the orange porcupine from the Ghats of Cochin and Travancore, and that they were considered more delicate eating by the native sportsmen, who aver that they can distinguish the two kinds by the smell from their burrows; but he was not apparently aware at the time that a specimen of _H. Malabarica_ with orange quills in the Zoological Gardens in London moulted, and the red quills were replaced by the ordinary black and white ones of the common Indian kind. Dr. Sclater afterwards (_see_ 'P. Z. S.' 1871, p. 234) came to the conclusion that _H. Malabarica_ was synonymous with _H. leucura_.

NO. 405. HYSTRIX (ACANTHION) LONGICAUDA.

_The Crestless Porcupine_ (_Jerdon's No. 206_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Anchotia-sahi_ or _Anchotia-dumsi_ in Nepal; _Sathung_, Lepcha; _O'--e_ of the Limbus (_Hodgson_). (N.B.--The _ch_ must not be p.r.o.nounced as _k_, but as _ch_ in church.) _Anchotia_ means crestless, the crested porcupine being called _Chotia-dumsi_.

HABITAT.--Nepal and Sikim, and on through Burmah to the Malayan peninsula, where it was first discovered.

DESCRIPTION.--Distinguished from the other species ”by its inferior size, total absence of crest on its head, neck, and shoulders, by its longer tail, by the white collar of the neck being evanescent; and lastly by the inferior size and smaller quant.i.ty of the spines or quills.”--_Hodgson_.

It is covered with black spinous bristles from two to three inches long, shortest on the head and limbs. The large quills of the back and croup are from seven to twelve inches long, mostly with one central black ring.

SIZE.--Head and body, 24 inches; tail, 4, or with the quills, 5-1/2 inches.

This is Hodgson's _H. alophus_, which is, I think, a more appropriate name than the one given, for its tail is not so very long in proportion.

Hodgson says of it: ”They breed in spring, and usually produce two young about the time the crops ripen. They are monogamous, the pair dwelling together in burrows of their own formation. Their flesh is delicious, like pork, but much more delicate flavoured, and they are easily tamed so as to breed in confinement. All tribes and cla.s.ses, even high-caste Hindoos, eat them, and it is deemed lucky to keep one or two alive in stables, where they are encouraged to breed. Royal stables are seldom without at least one of them.”