The times., 1898-11-21
QUEER ANIMALS.
Their Name and Species Bnmc All
u Beholders.
(From the philadelphia rimesl


From the Philadelphia Times.)
On board the British ship Feronia,
which arrived about noon yesterday from
Sourabaya. Java, with a cargo of 1855
bags and 12,644 baskets of sugar, there
are at present two of the most remark
able animals ever brought to the city
Notwithstanding that the boarding Off
GERS OF vessels are often brought into
contact with strange freaks in the ami
NAL kingdom, and that most of them are
familiar with the names of such that are
beyond the ken of ordinary fmerta!s, they
are in this case completely nonplussed
The first intimation received by the Gus
tom house authorities that the Feronia
had aboard these marvels of the animal
kingdom was after the visit paid to the
vessel by the boarding officer, Mr.. Rock
He went aboard about o'clock. and was
/ surprised by the veritable menagerie
which he saw at the head of the gang
way. He was confronted by two arma-
dillos and two small gazelies-.'A white
monkey sprang upon his shoulder. while
a cuckatoo fiuttered around yalnly en-
deavoring to alight on his cap. Capt
! cambridge appeared a moment later. and
! driving the varied assortment. away, said
! that they were pets of The crew and
| that they had been secured in the Soura-
I baya. s@Tft
While running his eye over the mani
| Fest handed him by the captain Mr.. Rock
I saw inserted the clause 1.-TWO small ami
/ mails, name unknown" On being ques-
TONED, Capt. Bainbridge led the way TO
| a big box on deck and produced the two
oddities. These appeared, when placed
| upon the top OF the box, animals about
| the size of an English fox terrier and
| apparently weighing about twenty-five
pounds. Standing about twelve inches to
| the topmost point of their curving backs
| and OF length in the body but little
| exceeding their height, they resemble on
| first appearance to a great degree an ar
madillo, SO familiar to visitors at the Zoo
They have not, however the telescopic
back of that strange geological curiosity.
but instead it is remarkably soft and COW
cred with wool somewhat like astrakhan
fur and of a maroon color. The tail il
| free from hair, and is more like that OF d
hog than a rat. inasmuch as il curls up
| and is not as long as that of the we'll
known rodent
The most striking popularity. however,
outside of the cloven hoofs which n
themselves somewhat resemble those of Il
mountain goat, Is the prominent snout of
the animals. The latter organ is near y
| as long as the length of their bodies. II
is of Il peculiar pinkish hue. and has the
remarkable faculty of withdrawing into
itself until the end, shaped somewhat like
that of the extremity OF an elephant S
trunk, is within one inch or so of the
mouth.
| The striking appearance of the an mails
is heightened by the zebra-l Ike stripes
which. contrary to the usual plan in ami
| mails of the cat and tiger order OF cross
ing the back, are instead on the und r
part, leaving the sides and upper portion
of the clean maroon color mentioned The
| eyes of the animals are remarkably mild
| in expression. and the whole effect is that
which would provoke amusement.
The two beasts were brought aboard at
Colombo. Ceylon, by a sailor. who pur-
chased them for a song Even there II
that land of marvels no one c-ud assign
to them a name. Capt. Bainbridge has
on board a large work on zoology, illus
| trating every peculiarity in the many va
riations of vertebrated animals but there
is nothing therein that can give posi-
bic clew to the identity of the spsc,es de-
scribed.
During the voyage they tn iyed well an
appeared to grow slightly in the. seventy
three days during which the steamer Was
on her voyage from the Orient. The cap
tain and those who examined the animali
yesterday are inclined 10 the theory thai
whatever they may be they have not yet
fully matured. Up TO this time they haVe
subsisted entirely upon bananas and oco-
sionally a raw potato mixed with milk
Yesterday they were tried upon some raw
eggs. which they devoured with aYidity'
They have been closely watched on the
voyage and the diet best suited to them
was continued
Their capture was effected near Co
lombo by three natives who work at th7
pearl fishery. and who had gone into the
high country to the north OF the town on
a hunting trip. According u theT story
which was. however, disbelieEeh oy the
captain and crew. there were seVera
others there which scurried off into bur
rows in the earth similar to that of q
prairie dog.