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Show 1870.] MR. R. SWINHOE ON THE MAMMALS OF HAINAN. 231 summer in its belly, in autumn in its left paw, in winter in its right paw. About its heart there is a white fat like jade, the taste of which is extremely fine ; this is usually called ' Bear's white.' In winter the Bear lies torpid and does not eat. When hungry it licks its own paws, and thence the goodness in the paws. " The Gazetteer of Kiungchowfoo says that Hainan produces Pig-bears, Dog-bears, Horse-bears, and Man-bears, alike in the body but differing in the head. Horse-bears are very large. Man-bears are not often seen. " The old authors say that the Bear has great strength and is given to devouring children. The Le men attack and capture them, a whole tribe uniting in the attack. Where Bears are plentiful the place has no peace. The gall-bladder is of a transparent colour, like rice-grains, and if stuck through with grass-stalks and put into water the best kinds will spin round quite fast. These are good for dissolving all poisons." 12. THE MUSK-RAT. Sorex myosurus, Pall. The Musk-rat was common in the houses in the capital city, and I was often disturbed in m y room at night by its clinking note. It is found in all the large towns in South China and Formosa, being transported about in junks with the cargo. 13. SWINHOE'S WHALE. Balcenoptera swinhoii, J. E. Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 725. I had heard much of the Whale-fisheries in the Hainan seas, and was in hopes that we should see some of the operations in connexion with them ; but the season had passed. W e saw, however, one or two large Whales off the west coast of Hainan. W e made inquiries about their bones at every fishing-port we touched at, but only succeeded in getting one rib, which is now in the British Museum. It was the only remnant of a Whale that had been captured by some fishermen on the west coast of Hainan. The oil of the animal had been melted down, the flesh eaten, and the rest of the bones chopped up for manure This large Chinese Rorqual appears to spend its winter in the seas about Hainan and in the Gulf of Tonquin. It must there produce its young; for in May it is seen with its calf in the Namoa Straits (near the port of Swatow), and remains in that neighbourhood and about the Formosan channel till the north-easters set in at the end of October, when it wends south-westwards again. A good account of the pursuit and capture of this species is given in the 'Chinese Repository' of November 1843, Art. IV., "Notices of the Whale Fishery in the Chinese Seas, as conducted by the inhabitants of the coasts." 14. RED-BELLIED SQUIRREL. Sciurus castaneiventris, Gray, Cat. M a m m . Brit. Mus. 1843, p. 142. S. erythrceus, Pall.; Swinh. M a m m . of Formosa, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 1 ]. Length of body, from snout to root of tail, 7\ inches; length of |
