Description of a new species of Paradoxurus from the Andaman Islands.-By Col. TYTLER.

As the mammalia found on these Islands must be of interest, I beg to send you the following description of a NEW Paradoxurus which I have named after myself,

PARADOXURUS TYTLERII.

Length from tip of snout to end of tail 3 feet and 5 inches, of which the tail alone measures 1 foot and 8 inches, and the head about 6 inches, height at shoulder 8 inches, general colour, dark bister brown, thickly mixed with longer light hairs of an Isabeline colour, giving the animal a changeable colour from dark to light according to circumstances; the entire under surface is of a pale Isabeline hue; feet, muzzle, and ears dark, eyes hazel; whiskers white, mixed with a few black hairs; nails nearly white; teeth strong; cheeks dark; light down the nose, and about the eyes; very vulpine in appearance; tail round not prehensile. Naked area or glandular fold between the anus and the genitals; large feet of moderate size; fur very thick and of a moderate length. The above was taken from an adult male. In habits they are very nocturnal, and appear to feed almost entirely on fruit and vegetables. I had two males caught with a great deal of difficulty alive, but they soon died in captivity: I have preserved their skins and skeletons. Their call is rather cat-like, and they appear rather inoffensive in their habits, notwithstanding that at times they fought slightly with each other. I trust this brief account may be acceptable, and if so, should you desire it, I shall be happy when opportunities offer, to send you further notes from these distant islands.

I ought to mention that the Paradoxurus I have described is not very common; the two I obtained were both from Viper Island where they do great havoc amongst pine apples: they are great tree climbers, nocturnal in their habits, and living during the day in holes.

8th June, 1863.

Extract from Journal of a Trip to Bhamo.-By Dr. C. WILLIAMS.

February 3rd.-At about midday reached the neighbourhood of Tagoung. The river here runs between a portion of the Mingwoon range of hills, which, covered with forest, slope to the water's edge of the right bank,—and a steep bank of sandstone with a fringe of sandbanks on the left. Its course is from N. to S. About a mile below Tagoung I went on shore with a Burman who professed to know all about the old city. Along the bank on which we walked and which was formed of debris from the sandstone of the steep true bank, we proceeded about half a mile, when we entered a lane to the right, having on our left the old city wall of Tagoung, and on our right a stony and brick strewn rise that appeared to be also a ruined wall: we continued thus due east for about a quarter of a mile, when the wall on our left turned towards the N. E. and the rise on the right continued its easterly direction. On the north side of this latter the ground was on a level with the top of the rise. My guide declared it to be the north wall of Pagan; I rather thought it the run of an ancient counterscarp to the south wall of Tagoung.

I ascended the Tagoung wall with great difficulty, for the jungle,. which is thicker and higher on the wall than elsewhere, contained many of the tearing and scratching species of plants that so frequently defy intrusion on a Burman jungle. Its brick structure was everywhere plain, and I should guess its outside height at the south and south-east sides, to be twenty feet. I tried to keep along the low ground close to the wall, but was obliged to submit to be guided round by a path, that after a circuit to the east, brought us to an eastern gateway. The brick work was here very hard and the backing of earth equally so. Just within the gateway were two decayed gate posts smaller than the gate posts of a good-sized Burman compound, but of the same kind, evidently a relic only of the latest period at which the modern village needed or was worth the protection of a gate. The wall here appeared to run due N. and S. Passing into the old city, a jungle path to the North West brought us to the present village of Tagoung, containing by the Thoogyee's account about one hundred houses, which is apparently correct. I called on this official, and found him civil and willing to give me all the information he could, which was not much. At my

request he drew a plan of the two cities on a parabeit. He confessed, however, that he had not seen the greater part of the wall, and especially did not appear at all certain about old Pagan. On the authority of "they say" however, he drew outlines like the following. (Pl. I.)

As my subsequent inspection rather confirmed this sketch, I give it to serve as a plan for reference.

The Thoogyee with the help of some of the numerous visitors I had attracted to his house, told me that anciently the two cities were surrounded by the river, an arm of which embraced the east sides and rejoined the main stream to the south of Pagan. The re

mains of this branch of the river he declared to be evident in the ereek to the north of Tagoung, and in the fact that during the freshes of the rainy season, the two cities are actually surrounded by running water.

The walls of Tagoung he said followed the water-course, and those of Pagan too were only at a short distance from it. "In the rains, in fact, the two cities form the only dry ground in the neighbourhood." To the eastward a series of jheels and tanks are scattered through the jungle till, at the distance of a deing (two miles) or more, a small lake is met with, extending eight miles from N. to S. and six from E. to W. Beyond this lake is jungle, till the hills that run down from Momest are met about another deing further east.

All united in saying that Pagan is older than Tagoung, and all declared themselves ignorant of its history. "Its chronicles are all burnt," said one: another more intelligently remarked;" It is not hundreds, nor even a thousand years that the city has ceased to be a capital: before religion came to the country it was the Burman capital, and what old man can tell us of its history ?" On my enquiring after any stone inscriptions or other relics of antiquity, they said none have been found except a few small Budh images stamped in relief on bricks with an inscription beneath, that I might perhaps be able to read, but that they could not. They told me that these are all found on the ground within old Pagan, and nothing of the kind has been met with within the walls of Tagoung.

The Thoogyee sent for some pieces, and on examination the character proved to be Nagari, which I recognised, but cannot read when distinct, and this inscription was far from legible.

Taking temporary leave of the Thoogyee, I went through a wide

gap in the north wall, which seemed mostly levelled with the ground of the city, though its site is plainly marked by the brickwork, and found myself on the steep bank of the creek mentioned by the Thoogyee. Looking northwards, a long stretch of gradually narrowing water appears at last to end in a cul-de-sac amidst dense jungle. This is evidently an old passage, and at present an open one in the rainy season. To the right, close along the wall of the city, stretched a piece of low jungly ground, through which a small stream of water issued into the main creek. I went along this north wall till jungle and approaching darkness stopped me. The line of brickwork was plain enough, and close outside it, the ground sloped to the low swampy jungle which the natives said is covered with deep water every summer.

The present village, I should explain, is situated on the north-west corner of the old city: one or two old pagodas are near and several modern ones. The chief object of reverence to fear, however, is a Nat, which is said to possess great power for evil as well as good, and especially inflicts the stomach-ache on any offender. The material representative of this spirit is a rude head on a post, the whole of wood, about four feet high, with a tapering head-dress, half globes for eyes, a well formed nose and no mouth, but rather big ears. This dreaded image is lodged in a wooden shed like a Zayat, a portion of which, covered by an extra roof, is boarded off into a chamber about six feet square within this stood the ugly post, amidst earthen vases and little pans in which flowers and lamps had been offered to it. As sketched from memory the outline of the thing was as below. (Fig. 1.)

I have heard of this terrible nat at Mandalay, and have been consulted by a former Thoogya for an incurable stomach-ache and asthma inflicted by it while he was in office here. The nat bears a bad reputation for vindictiveness and being easily offended. The origin of this particular worship at this spot, I will enquire further into before I make any guesses. In the evening I witnessed a striking example of the reverence the nat exacts from all comers to his neighbourhood. My Burman servants had evinced some fear in the day and refused to accompany me in a close inspection of his devilship. At the puey given by the Thoogya in the evening, the actors in which were a company of players from Moutshobo, I noticed these latter always making a shiko to somebody I could not see, before

Fig. 1.

they made the customary one to the entertainer himself. On the constant repetition of this I asked "Who is it they shiko to ?" and was told by the Thoogya, "to the Lord nat," and then recollected that the nat shed stood in the direction of the obeisance which had puzzled me.

The inhabitants even dared to tell me that the nat was "teg sothe," very wicked, but in a confidential manner, as if they would not at all like the nat to know they said so.

The next morning, February 4th, was so foggy that I could see nothing. After despatching some letters, by a chance but safe opportunity to Mandalay for posting, I went on shore about 10 a. M., detaining the canoe, and sending on the large boat. I went to the Thoogya who had collected half a dozen of the brick reliefs, all that the village possessed, from which I selected three, and with the ready consent of the Thoogya brought them away. I then started for Pagan, and the Thoogya determined to accompany me. We passed out by a gateway in the east wall, north of that by which I had entered yesterday-where the direction of the wall was N. E. and S. W., and after walking through jungle in a southerly direction