Il|ll'!i!!i|!|[||il|!i.! Mcessioiis lOirfi^ ^ SlioK No. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Boston Public Library http://www.archive.org/details/greatsmallgameof1900lyde THE GREAT AND SMALL GAME OF INDIA, BURMA, $^ TIBET rms EDITION CONSISTS OF Tlt'O HUNDRED AND FIFTr COPIES, NUMBERED AND SIGNED, OF WHICH rms IS No. AS THE GREAT AND SMALL GAME OF INDIA, BURMA, & TIBET R. LYDEKKER B.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S. Hon. Member of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland., and of the Neiv Zealand Institute Correspondent of the Academy of Natural Sciences^ Philadelphia^ and of the Boston Society of Natural History. Late of the Geological Survey of India WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY SPORTSMEN LONDON ROWLAND WARD, Limited "THE JUNGLE," i66 PICCADILLY 1900 Al/ rights reserved 1., TO THE DUCHESS OF BEDFORD THIS VOLUME WITH HER GRACE'S PERMISSION IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR PREFACE From its predecessor and companion, The Great and Small Game of Africa^ the present volume dififers in that it is mainly the work of a single writer. In order, however, that it should not lack the personal experi- ences which constitute such a valuable feature in the former, an appendix has been added, in which several well - known sportsmen record their experiences of the shikar- of some of the larger species. To these gentle- men the author owes his most cordial thanks. It may be added that the author himself has seen many of the Himalayan and Tibetan mammals in their native haunts ; but where his own personal observations and recollections are insufficient for his purpose, he has not hesitated to quote largely from the writings of those who have been more fortunate in their experiences. The general systematic treatment of the subject is the same as that adopted in Mr. Blanford's volume on Mammals in the Fauna of British India ; and the author takes the opportunity of stating how much he has been indebted to that admirable work on this and other occasions. The descriptions of the different animals are, however, drawn up on somewhat more popular lines than in Mr. Blanford's work. And it will be found that species are divided up into local races to a greater extent than in the latter ; this being due to the more detailed study which has been expended on the subject since the appearance of the volume in question. Many of the animals described here have been already treated ot by the author in Deer of All Lands and Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats of All viii Great and Small Game of India, etc. hands ; and it has consequently been a matter of considerable difficulty to avoid undue repetition. A few of the illustrations in the text have been reproduced from the works last mentioned, but the majority of these are new. Many of them are from photographs, taken expressly for this work by the Duchess of Bedford, to whom the author's most grateful thanks are hereby tendered. His acknowledgments are likewise due to the Maharaja of Kuch Behar, Sir Robert Harvey, Mr. A. O. Hume, Mr. R. M'D. Hawker, and several other gentlemen, as well as to the Council of the Zoological Society, for permission to reproduce photographs or figures. Since the text was in type the serow of the Malay Peninsula has been separated from the Sumatran animal as a distinct species by Mr. A. L. Butler in the Proceedmgs of the Zoological Society of London for 1900, p. 675, under the name of Nemorha;dus swette7ihami. Its chief claim to distinction is the blacker colour of the entire coat, especially on the legs, which are wholly black, so that the general appearance of the animal is uniformly dark. In place, however, of being a distinct species, it is probable that the Malay serow should be regarded as a local phase of the Sumatran animal, when its title will be N. simiatrensis swettenhami. Harpenden Lodge, St. Albans, Mickaebihis 1900. CONTENTS AND SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS OF INDIAN, BURMESE, AND TIBETAN GAME ANIMALS INTRODUCTION ...... Order UNGULATA— Siib-Ordcr Proboscidea — Family Elephantid^t; — 1. The Indian Elephant — Elefhas maximus Sub-Order Perissodactyla — Family RhinocerotiDjT. — 2. The Indian Rhinoceros — Rhinoceros unicornis 3. The Javan Rhinoceros — Rhinoceros sondaicus 4. The Sumatran Rhinoceros — Rhinoceros sumatrensis a. Hairy-eared Race — RInnoceros sumatrensis lasiotis Family Tapirid^ — 5. The Malay Tapir— 7T//./ra/ zW/<-;^j Family Equid^, — 6. The Asiatic Wild Ass — Equus heinionus a. Kiang or Tibetan Race — Equus h?emionus typicus . b. Ghorkhar or Baluchi Race — Equus l?emionus onager Sub-Order Artiodactyla — Family Bovid/e — 7. The Gaur — Bos gaurus 8. The Gayal — Bos frontalis . 9. The Banting — Bos sondaicus a. Tsaing or Burmese Race — Bos . 10. The Yak— ^w onda, X Great and Small Game of India, etc. Order UNGULATA {continued)— Sub-Order Artiodactyla [continued) — Family BoviD^ [continued) — ■ 11. The Arna, or Indian Buffalo — Bos bubnlii a. Typical Race — Bos bubalis typicus b. Upper Assam Race — Bos bubalis fulvus 12. Marco Polo's Sheep — Ovis poli . 13. The Argali — Ovis ammon a. Tibetan Race — Ovis ammon kodgsoni 14. The Sha, or Urial — Ovis vignei . a. Aster Race — Ovis vignei typica . b. Punjab Race — Ovis vignei cycloceros 15. The Bharal, or Blue Sheep — Ovis nahur, 16. The Common Go3.x.~Capra hircus a. Sind Wild Race— C^/n; hircus blytki 17. The Asiatic Ibex — Capra sibirica a. Baltistan Race — Capra sibirica zoardi b. Dauvcrgne's Race — Capra sibirica dauvergnei c. Himalayan Race — Capra sibirica sacin . 18. The yVzx\.\vox— Capra fahoneri . a. Astor Race — Capra f ale 07ieri typica b. Pir Panjal Race — Capra falconeri cashniriensis c. Cabul Race — Capra falconeri megaceros . d. Suleman Race — Capra falconeri jerdoni . 19. The Himalayan Tahr — Hemitragus jemlaictis 20. The Nilgiri Tahr — Hemitragus hylocrius 21. The Serow — Nemorhcedus sumatrensis a. Sumatran Race — Nemorhcedus stnnatre7isis typicus b. Tibetan Race — Nemorhcedus sumatrensis mihte-ediuardsi c. Arakan Race — Ne?norhcedus sumatrensis rubidus . d. Himalayan Race — Nemorhcedus stcmatrensis bubalinus 22. The Himalayan Goral — Urotragus goral . 23. The Ashy Tibetan Goral — Urotragus cinereus 24. The Grey Tibetan Goral — Urotragus griseus 25. The Takin — Budorcas taxicolor . . a. Mishmi Race — Budorcas taxicolor typicus b. Moupin Race — Budorcas taxicolor tibetanus Contents XI Order UNGULATA {continued)— Sub-Order Artiodactyla {continued) — Family Bovid^ {continued) — 26. The Nilgai, or Blue Bull — Boselaptus tragocnmelus 27. The Four-horned hvi\.(t\oi^Q.— Tetraceros quadricornis 28. The Bkckbuck — Antikpe cervicapra 29. The Chiru, or Tibetan Antelope — Pmitholops hodgsojii 30. The Goa, or Tibetan Gazelle — Gaxella picticaudata 31. The Goitred Gazelle — Gazel/a subgutturosa 32. The Chinkara Gazelle — Gdzella bemietti a. Typical Race — Gazella bennetti typica b. Baluchi Race — Gazella bennetti fuscifrons Family CervidjE — 33. The Hangul, or Kashmir Stag — Cerz'us cashmirianus 34. The Shou, or Sikhim Stag — Cervus affinis 35. Thorold's Deer, or Lhasa Stag — Cervus albirostris 36. The Sambar — Cervus unicolor a. Indian Race — Cervus utiicolor typicus b. Malay Race — Cervus unicolor equinus 37. The Para, or Hog-Deer — Cervus porcinus 38. The Chital, or Indian Spotted Deer — Cervus axis 39. The Swamp-Deer — Cervus duvauceli 40. The Thamin — Cervus eldi 41. The Indian Muntjac — Cervulus muntjac 42. The Tibetan Muntjac — Cervulus lachrymans 43. The Tenasserim Muntjac — Cervulus fere 44. The Tibetan Tufted T>ecx—Elapbodus cephalopkus 45. The Himalayan Musk-Deer — Moschus ?noscbiferus Family TragulidjE — 46. The Indian Spotted Chevrotain — Tragulus meminna 47. The Napu Chevrotain — Tragulus napu . 48. The Kanchil Chevrotain — Tragulus javanicus Family Suid^ — 49. The Indian Wild Boar — Sus cristatus a. Indian Race — Sus cristatus typicus b. Andamanese Race — Sus cristatus andamanensis c. Moupin Race — Sus cristatus moupinensis 50. The Pigmy Hog— 5w salvanius . 146 153 158 167 173 176 185 185 192 193 202 204 206 206 21; 217 234 238 243 244 245 247 253 256 257 258 265 266 266 xii Great and Small Game of India, etc. lER CARNIVORA— Family FeliDjE — 5 I . The Lion — Tclis leo 52. The Tiger— fi'/w tigris . 53. The Leopard — Felis pardus a. Indian Race — Felis pardus typica b. Persian Race — Felis pardus paiitkera 54. The Ounce, or Snow-Leopard — Felis uncia 55. The Clouded Leopard — Felis nebulosa 56. The Golden or Bay Cat — Felis temminck. 57. The Fishing-Cat — Felis viverrina 58. The Leopard-Cat — Felis bengalensis 59. Pallas's Cat — Felis manul 60. The Jungle-Cat — Felis chaus a. Indian Race — Felis chaus affi?iis 61. The Desert-Cat — Felis ornata . 62. The Caracal— F^//V caracal 63. The Lynx — Felis lynx . a. Tibetan Race — Felis lynx isabellina 64. The Hunting-Leopard — Cynalurus juhatus Family Viverrid^ — 65. The Indian Civet — Viverra zibetha 66. The Binturong — Arctictis binturong Family Hy^nidje — 67. The Striped Hyjena — Hytena striata Family Canid^, — • 68. The ^o\i—Canis lupus . a. Typical Race — Canis lupus typicus b. Tibetan Race — Canis lupus laniger 6g. The Indian Wolf — Canis pallipes •JO. The Malay Wild Dog — Canis sumatrensis a. Typical Race — Canis sumatrensis typicus b. Indian Race — Canis stunatrensis deccanejisis Family Procyonid^ — 71. The Himalayan Panda — jSlurus fulgens 72. The Short-tailed 7anAa—.iEluropus melanoleucus Contents Xlll Order CARNIVORA {continued)— Family Ursidj^ — 73. The Brown Bear — -IJrsus arctus . a. Himalayan Race — Vrsus arctus iuibeUinus 74. The Tibetan Blue Bear — Ursus pruinosus ■Ji^. The Himalayan Black Bear — Ursus torquatus 76. The Malay Bear — Ursus malaya?ius 77. The Sloth-Bear — Melursus ursinus Order RODENTIA— Family Sciurid^e — 78. The Red Marmot — Arctomys caiidatus Family LeporidjE — 79. The Black-napcd Hare — Lepus n'tgricoUis 80. The North-Indian Hare — Lepus ruficaudatus 81. The Sind Hare— i^/?/^ rt'^;j/?Wi . 82. The Burmese Hare — Lepus peguensis 83. The Afghan Hare — Lepus tibetanus 84. Tibetan Hares — Lepus okstolus and hypsibius 356 356 361 364 371 373 380 382 383 384 38s 38S 386 APPENDIX— Gaur-Shooting in Upper Burma. By Mr. C. W. A. Bruce .... 389 Yak-Shooting in Ladak. By Mr. H. C. V. Hunter ..... 391 Banting or Hsaing-Shooting in Burma. By Mr. C. W. A. Bruce . . . 393 Himalayan Argali-Shooting. By Mr. H. C. V. Hunter . . . -395 Ovis Poli-Shooting. By Major C. S. Cumberland ..... 397 Serow-Shooting in Burma. By Mr. C. W. A. Bruce . . . .398 Indian Gazelle-Shooting. By Mr. H. C. V. Hunter . . . .400 Goa-Shooting. By Mr. H. C. V. Hunter . . . . . .401 Nilgai-Shooting. By Mr. H. C. V. Hunter ..... 402 Swamp-Deer and Gaur-Shooting in Central India. By Major C. S. Cumberland . 402 Hog-Deer Stalking. By Mr. H. C. V. Hunter ...•■405 Thamin-Shooting in Burma. By Mr. C. W. A. Bruce and Mr. G. R. Radmore . 406 Lion-Shooting in Kathiawar. By Lieut.-Col. L. L. Fenton .... 410 LIST OF PLATES PLATE I ........ I. Indian Elephant. 2. Indian Rhinoceros. 3. Javan Rhinoceros. 4. Sumatran Rhinoceros. 5. Malay Tapir. 6. Kiang. PLATE 2 III. Gaur. 2, 21?. Gayal. 3. Burmese Banting, or Tsaing. 4, 4^. Yak. 5, ^11. Indian Buffalo. PLATE 3 ........ 83 I, 111. Marco Polo's Sheep. 2, 2rf. Tibetan Argali. 3. Sha. 4, ^a. Uriah 5, ^11. Bharal. PLATE 4 ........ I, I.;. Sind Wild Goat. 2, m. Himalayan Ibex. 3. Astor Markhor. 4. Pir Panjal Markhor. 5, 5.;. Suleman Markhor. 6. Himalayan Tahr. 7. Nilgiri Tahr. PLATE 5 ........ I, III. Mishmi Takin. 2, in. Himalayan Serow. 3. Goral. 4. Chiru. 5. Blackbuck. 6. Four-horned Antelope. 7, Jii. Indian Chinkara Gazelle. 8. Persian Goitred Gazelle, g. Goa Gazelle. 10. Nilgai. PLATE 6 ........ 1. Hangul. 2. Shou. 3. Thorold's Deer. 4. Indian Sambar. 5. Malay Sambar. 6. Chital. 7. Swamp-Deer. 8. Thamin. PLATE 7 ........ I. Hog-Deer. 2. Indian Muntjac. 3. Tenasserim Muntjac. 4. Tibetan Tufted Deer. 5. Musk-Dcer. 6. Indian Chevrotain. 7. Indian Wild Boar. 8. Pigmy Hog. t93 239 xvi Great and Small Game of India, etc. PLATE 8 ........ 269 1. Indian Lion. 2. Bengal Tiger. 3. Indian Leopard. 4. Persian Leopard. 5. Snow- Leopard. 6. Clouded Leopard. 7. Fishing-Cat. 8. Leopard- Cat. 9. Jungle- Cat. 10. Caracal. II. Tibetan Lynx. 12. Hunting-Leopard. 335 PLATE 9 I. Binturong. 2. Striped Hya;na. 3 . Tibetan Wolf. , \- 1 ndian Wolf. 5. Wild Dog. 6. Hima layan Panda. 7. Short -tailed Panda. 8. Hi malayan Brown Bear. 9- Tibetan Blue Bear. 10. Hima layan Bla ck Bear. n . Malay Bear. 12. Sloth- TEXT FIGURES Skull of Indian Elephant . Kiang at Woburn Abbey . Bull Gaur Skull of Cow Gaur Skull of Bull Gayal Head of Bull Burmese Banting Parti-coloured and White Yak Skull of Bull Yak Black Yak at Woburn Abbey Skulls of Indian Buffalo . Head of Marco Polo's Sheep Head of Urial Sind Wild Goat . Skull of Sind Wild Goat . Baltistan Ibex Horns of Astor Markhor . Skull of Pir Panjal Markhor Horns of Western Markhor Skull of Cabul Markhor . Skull of Suleman Markhor Head of Male Suleman Markh Skull of Himalayan Serow Female Goral Skull of Male Takin Skull of Young Takin Female Nilgai Skull of Blackbuck Persian Goitred Gazell Goitred Gazelle Skulls Skull of Yarkand Goitred Gazelle Head of Chinkara Gazelle Hangul Stag at Woburn Abbey Hangul Stag .r Tsaing Woburn Abbey 7 35 41 45 53 57 65 67 70 75 79 91 98 99 103 114 115 H7 119 121 135 137 142 H3 149 161 179 181 183 187 195 197 XVlll Great and Small Game of India, etc. Skull and Antlers of Yarkand Stag Skull and Antlers of six-tined Yarkand Stag Skull and Antlers of Shou Sambar Stag Head of Indian Sambar Skull of Indian Sambar with abnormal Antlers Frontlet and Antlers of Malay Sambar Head of Male Hog-Deer Hog-Deer Stag Swamp-Deer Head of Chital Stag Chital Hind Head of Swamp-Deer Stag Swamp-Deer Stag . Head of Swamp-Deer with abnormal Antlers Group of Thamin Frontlet and Antlers of Muntjac Head of Michie's Tufted Deer Musk-Deer Indian Tiger Skin Manchurian Tiger Skin White Tiger Skin Skin of African Leopard Skin of Indian Leopard Indian Leopard Skin of Snow-Leopard Tibetan Blue Bear Skull and Antlers of Shou Indian Lion 203 207 209 21 1 216 218 219 220 222 223 229 230 231 235 2 + 1 246 249 277 279 281 297 299 301 309 362 THE GREAT AND SMALL GAME OF INDIA, BURMA, AND TIBET INTRODUCTION The vast area of which the game animals (or, to speak correctly, game mammals) are described in the present volume may be designated in popular language " the Sportsman's India." Roughly speaking, it is taken to include the drainage-basins of the Indus, Bramaputra, and Irawadi rivers, or the greater portion thereof, together with the whole of India, the island of Ceylon, and the maritime province of Tenasserim. Including a large part of Baluchistan and Afghanistan, the area is well defined towards the north-west by the immense barrier of the Hindu -Kush and Karakoram ranges. Eastwards of the latter the boundary is fixed by the Tangla Mountains, to the north of Lhasa, whence an arbitrary line may be drawn to the eastern frontier of Burma, which may be taken as the boundary in this direction. The whole of Tibet and the Himalaya will consequently fall within the area treated of; but, on the other hand. Eastern Turkestan and China, as well as Siam and the Malay Peninsula, are excluded. It has to be acknowledged that, in fixing these limits, a somewhat arbitrary division has been made ; and it has been urged upon the writer that it would have been better to include the whole of Asia, as it seems 2 Great and Small Game of India, etc. rather illogical to describe certain of the wild sheep and deer of Central Asia to the exclusion of others. And undoubtedly there is much to be said for this view. On the other hand, the fauna of Western Asia passes imperceptibly into that of Eastern Europe, so that if Asia were taken as the limits of the area to be included, the boundary would be fully as arbitrary, from the point of view of the fauna, as is at present the case, if, indeed, it were not more so. Of course, there is the reply. Why not include Europe also ? But to describe the game animals of such a large area as the whole of Asia and Europe is a task which neither the author nor the publisher are, for the present at any rate, inclined to undertake. The area, as thus limited, contains an assemblage of game animals belonging to two great zoological provinces ; those ot the cis-Indus and cis-Himalayan portion of the area, together with Burma and Tenasserim, pertaining to what naturalists call the Oriental region, while those beyond these limits come within the Eastern Holarctic or Palcearctic region. The northern frontiers of India and Burma are, in fact, the meeting-place of two great faunas. But in Burma and India themselves minor zoological sub- divisions are indicated by the distribution of the game and other animals. In Tenasserim, for example, the animals are distinctly of a Malayan type, as is instanced by the presence of the tapir, the Malay bear, the banting, and the binturong. And these Malayan types are traceable, although with an intermingling of peculiar forms, like the thameng, into Assam and the Eastern Himalaya ; the Malayan forms being perhaps even more pronounced in the latter area than they are in Burma. Other Malayan types are the two smaller species of Asiatic rhinoceros, one of which has penetrated into Lower Bengal. Of the game animals of Burma itself, some, like the gaur, are identical with those of India ; others, like the banting, are Malayan ; while others again may be regarded as Eastern representatives of Indian forms. As an instance of the latter class may be cited the thameng and the Malay Introduction 3 sambar, which are respectively the Burmese representatives of the Indian swamp-deer and Indian sambar. Assam forms the meeting-ground of the Indian and the Burmese faunas. Peninsular India, which is properly restricted to the area south of the great plain formed by the alluvium of the Indus and Ganges, but which is often considered to extend to the foot of the Himalaya, is, of course, the home of the true Indian fauna, examples of which are the chital, the hog- deer, the swamp-deer, the Indian sambar, the nilgai, and the sloth-bear. But, even apart from minor divisions due to varying conditions ot climate, soil, vegetation, etc., Peninsular India is by no means uniform as regards its animals. And the Malabar coast is very distinct in this respect from the whole of the remainder of the area, although showing considerable resemblances to Ceylon, except the north of the latter, which is more akin in its animals to Peninsular India generally. Many characteristically Indian animals, such as the tiger, the Indian wolf, and the swamp-deer, are, how- ever, absent from Ceylon. In the trans-Indus districts of the Punjab, and still more markedly in Western Sind, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, we gradually take leave of the fauna of Peninsular India (and with it that of the Oriental region generally), and find it replaced by a Persian element ; these Persian types pertaining to the Holarctic fauna of Western Asia and Europe. Examples of such western types are met with in the form of the European wolf, the Persian leopard, the wild ass, and the Persian gazelle. The lion, too, belongs to this Persian fauna, although it has succeeded in penetrating farther into India than some of the other members. All traces of the Malayan fauna, such as tapirs, the two smaller species of rhinoceros, and the Malay bear, are totally wanting from the area occupied by the Persian fauna. In the cis-Indus Salt Range of the Punjab we meet with an outlier of the Persian fauna in the form of the true urial. This animal, together with the straight-horned markhor of the trans-Indus Suleman Range, like- 4 Great and Small Game of India, etc. wise serves to connect the Punjab-Persian fauna with that of Central Asia, which also forms a part of the great Holarctic region. It has been already mentioned that the animals of the Eastern Himalaya display a marked resemblance to the Malayan type. Passing westwards along the chain, this Malayan element practically disappears west of Nepal ; and from thence the Himalayan fauna as far north as the limits of trees is to a great extent transitional between that of Peninsular India on the one hand and that of Central Asia on the other. Kashmir, which comes within the limits of this intermediate zone, exhibits the transition between the Oriental and Central Asian fauna very markedly, with some indications of a Persian element. The Himalayan black bear is a very characteristic animal of this zone, as are the tahr and the goral. With the high Himalaya and the more or less arid districts of Gilgit, Ladak, etc., we enter the area inhabited by the Tibetan fauna, which is more or less markedly distinct from that of the rest of Central Asia. Among these peculiar Tibetan types may be cited the yak, the chiru, the goa, and the kiang, together with various wild sheep, all of which are inhabitants of very arid and elevated country. Further eastwards, in the Lhasa district, we enter the limits of a subdivision of this fauna adapted to live at a lower elevation in a more humid climate ; among the members of this group being the short-tailed panda, the takin, Thorold's deer, and the Tibetan blue bear. Passing on to Turkestan and Altai country, the home of Marco Polo's sheep, the true argali, the East Asiatic wapiti, and the Siberian roe, we reach the tract populated by the typical Central Asian fauna, lying beyond the limits to which the present volume is restricted. The tiger is probably to be regarded as a wanderer from the Central Asian fauna into India and the Malay countries. With these few preliminary remarks on a very difficult but very inter- esting subject, the description of the various species may be commenced. THE INDIAN ELEPHANT {JLlephas maximiis) Native Names. — Hathi, Hathni (female), Hindustani ; Hasti and Gaja, Sanscrit ; F//, Persian ; Haust, Kashmiri ; Gaj, Bengali ; Aiie, Telegu, Tamil, Canarese, etc. ; Tani of the Gonds ; Hattanga, Khonda, and Eniga, Telegu ; Tanei, Kunjaram, and Veranum, Malabari ; Ata and AUia, Cingalese ; Tengmu of the Lepchas ; Langcheu and Lambochi of the Bhotias ; Mongma and Naplo of the Garo Hill Tribes ; Migung, Kachari ; Atche of the Akas ; Sotso, Supo, Chit, and Tsii of the Nagas ; Sitte at Abor ; Tsang in Khamti ; Magiii, Singhpho ; Saipi of the Kukis ; Amieng and Maiiyong in the Mishmi Hills ; Samu of the Manipuris ; Tsheiig, Burmese ; Tsiug, Talain ; Tsan in the Shan States ; Kahsa of THE Karens ; Gaja, Malay (Plate I. Fig. i) In all works of sport, and in the majority of those on natural history, the Indian elephant, if it be not called Elephas asiaticus, is termed £. inJicus ; but at the present day it is the fashion to follow priority in nomenclature, and according to this the proper name is undoubtedly £. maximus. It may be objected that, on the average, the Indian elephant is a smaller animal than its African relation, and that, accordingly, the latter name is invalid ; but objections of this class are disregarded by naturalists, and sportsmen should consequently make up their minds to accept the change. 6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. As the largest and most strange in appearance of all the animals of India, the elephant looms large in the ancient traditions and religions of the country, figuring in the Hindu mythology as Ganesa — the elephant- headed god. From its ancient Sanscrit names Hasti and Gaja are derived most of its titles among the Aryan tribes ot India ; while even the Malays, who speak a tongue of totally different origin, have adopted the latter of these two names. Although now the sole representative of its tribe in Asia, the Indian elephant is the survivor of a whole host of species formerly inhabiting the country from which it takes its name ; some of these extinct species being very close to their existing descendant, while others (mastodons) had teeth of a totally distinct type, some of them being provided with tusks in both the upper and lower jaws. From the number of its species, coupled with the tact that it is here alone that a complete transition is to be found between the mastodons and the modern elephants, it is indeed probable that South-Eastern Asia was the original home of the group. As everybody knows an elephant by sight, while many people are acquainted with the leading external differences between the Asiatic and the African species, it will be quite unnecessary to point out the peculiar characteristics of elephants in general, or to enter in any great detail into the consideration of the features by which the two living representa- tives of the group are distinguished from one another. An exception in regard to one particular of elephant anatomy may, however, be made, seeing that comparatively few people grasp the peculiar mode of develop- ment and replacement obtaining in the teeth of these animals. As regards the tusks (which, by the way, do not correspond to the tusks of a wild boar, but to one of the pairs of incisor or front teeth), these arise from the upper jaw, and grow throughout the entire life of their owner, after they have once made their appearance. In very young elephants they are preceded by a pair of milk-tusks, which The Elephant 7 are soon shed. And here it may be mentioned that the present writer once had a friendly dispute with the late Mr. G. P. Sanderson as to the existence of these said milk-tusks. With the intention of convincing the writer that no such tusks existed, that sportsman sent down to Fig. I. — Skull ot Indian elephant, showing the worn masticating surface of the fifth pair of molars, behind which are the unworn sixth pair, whose summits during life were still in the gum. Calcutta the skull of an extremely young elephant supposed to have the permanent tusks in a very early stage of growth. When one of these tusks was removed from the jaw, it was, however, found to have the lower extremity closed, whereas, as everybody knows, the permanent tusks have the lower end open throughout life. Consequently, Mr. Sanderson was convinced of his mistake. The identical skull in question 8 Great and Small Game of India, etc. is now exhibited in the beautiful series of mammalian teeth displayed in the entrance hall of the Natural History Museum. As regards the molar or cheek-teeth of elephants, there are six pairs developed in each jaw, but only portions of two of these are in use at any one time, and in an aged animal there is but one on each side of both the upper and the lower jaw. These teeth are composed of a number of vertical transverse plates closely packed together ; the number of such plates gradually increasing from the first tooth, in which there are four, to the last, which may have as many as twenty-four. The teeth are pushed up in the jaws in an arc of a circle, and as each tooth becomes worn down, it is gradually pushed out from behind by its successor, which at the same time takes its place. And, of course, the end of this process is that the animal is eventually left with but a single pair of grinding teeth in each jaw ; and when these are completely worn away by use, a term must naturally be put to the life of their owner. Compared with those of its African relative, the molars of the Indian elephant have their component plates narrower and more numerous, with the layers of enamel thrown into a number of fine puckers or pleats. Consequently, on the worn surface of the crown, the disks formed by the abraded plates are much the more numerous and narrower in the Indian species, while their enamel -borders are thin and pleated instead of comparatively thick and plain. The females of the Indian elephant carry, as a rule, but very small tusks, which do not project beyond the lips, and in some cases the males show an equally poor development of these weapons. Such unarmed males are known in India as makhna^ in contradistinction to the dauiiiela, or tuskers. Usually the Indian elephant has five polished hoof-like nails, on the fore, and four on the hind-feet. But the most striking external point The Elephant of distinction between this and the African species is to be found in the comparatively small size of the ears. Next to this comes the presence of a finger-like process on the front edge only of the tip of the trunk, the African species having such a process on both the front and hind margins. The skin is comparatively smooth, and the coarse bristles on the tail are confined to the front and back edges for some distance above the tip. Other noticeable features in the present species are the comparative flatness of the forehead and the regularly convex profile of the back. Much ink and paper have been used in the course of discussions relating to the height attained by the Indian elephant, but since the subject has now been thoroughly threshed out, it will be treated very briefly on the present occasion. Roughly speaking, about 9 feet may be given as the ordinary height for large males, and 8 feet for females. But an elephant of 9 feet 4 inches has been killed in Ceylon, and one of 9 feet 7 inches in Mysore ; while two are known to have attained the height of 10 feet i inch, a third of 10 feet 4 inches, and a fourth (killed by Viscount Powerscourt in Gurhwal) of 1 1 feet. All these dimensions appear, however, to be dwarfed by a huge skeleton in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, which indicates that during life the animal to which it belonged was at least a dozen feet in height. Of tusks, the three longest specimens on record respectively measure 8 feet 9 inches, 8 feet 2 inches, and 8 feet ; their respective weights being 81, 80, and 90 lbs. But these are by no means the heaviest — one, whose length is 7 feet 3I inches, weighing 102 lbs. ; while a second, of which the length is 7 feet 3^ inches, scaled 97^ lbs., both these two latter examples being from Ceylon. Of the largest pair in the possession of the British Museum, which belonged to an elephant killed in 1866 by Colonel G. M. Payne in Madura, one tusk measures 6 feet 8 inches in length, and weighs yj% lbs., the other being somewhat lo Great and Small Game of India, etc. smaller. As regards the circumference of the base of the foot, the following are the six largest examples recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward, namely, 67^, 62-I, 61, 60 1, and 60 (two) inches. Within the area treated of in the present volume, the elephant inhabits the forest districts of India, Ceylon, Assam, and Burma, although it is now exterminated in several parts of the country where it formerly flourished. Indeed, were it not for the strict protective laws established by the provincial Governments of India, as well as by the authorities in Ceylon, this noble beast would have long since disappeared from most of its present haunts, even if it had not ceased to exist altogether. Eastwards and southwards of Burma the elephant is to be met with in the Malay Peninsula, Siam, and Cochin China, as well as in the great islands of Sumatra and Borneo, although in the last of these its presence may have been originally due to human agency. Much discussion has taken place as to whether the Sumatran and the Ceylon elephant, which were at one time grouped together, are distinct from the continental animal. It was said, for instance, that the Sumatran elephant was more slenderly built, with a longer and more slender trunk, and the extremity of the tail more expanded, and furnished with longer and stronger bristles ; while there were also stated to be points of diiference connected with the cheek-teeth and the skeleton. In connection with these alleged differences the late Dr. Hugh Falconer, who paid great attention to the study of elephants, both recent and fossil, wrote as follows : — " Even in the sal-forests of North-Western India, at the extreme northern limit of the species at the present day, the difference of slender-built and squat-built elephants is well known, being expressed, for the Bengal variety, under the designation of ' Mirghi,' or Cervine, for the former, and ' Koomarea ' for the latter, or, when the characters are combined, ' Sunkarea.' The trunk varies in a similar manner, being somewhat short and thick in some, and long and more The Elephant 1 1 slender in others. The fringe of bristles to the tail is variable in degree, according to the sex, age, and vigour of the animal. A good fringe is seldom retained long in captivity ; when present, it always enhances the price of the animal in the estimation of the natives of India. That the animal varies considerably in appearance, according to the district in which it has been captured, has long been well known in India. Abu Fuzl, in his account of the elephant -stables of Akbar, enumerates six varieties, distinguished by form, different marks, or colouring ; and the experienced mahouts attached to the Government Commissariat in Bengal will tell at a glance the district where a recently caught elephant has been bred, whether the sal-forests of the North-West Provinces, Sylhet, Assam, Chittagong, Tippera, or Kuttak." The same writer then goes on to demonstrate that since the alleged osteological differences between the Sumatran and the continental Indian elephant are non-existent, while there are no constant features of dis- tinction in their teeth, the two are not specifically separable. So far as the question of species is concerned, the truth of this conclusion may be accepted without hesitation. It is, however, quite probable that the Sumatran elephant may belong to a sub-species or local race, different from the one inhabiting the Indian mainland, if indeed there be only a single race in the latter area. It may be added that the Ceylon elephant was regarded as identical with the Sumatran form ; but if the latter indicate a separate race, it is practically certain that the Ceylon animal must likewise be distinct, since it differs from the mainland form by the rarity of tusks in the males, which are said to occur only in about one out of every three hundred individuals. At present the materials existing in England are quite insufficient to allow of any definite opinion being given on these points. It the Sumatran elephant be distinct, it will have to be known as Elephas maximus sumatramis. 12 Great and Small Game of India, etc. As regards the present distribution of elephants in India itself, these animals are found along the foot of the Himalaya as far west as the valley of Dehra Dun, where the winter temperature falls to a com- paratively low point. A favourite haunt used to be the swamp of Azufghur, lying among the sal-forests to the northward of the station of Meerut. In the great tract of forest between the Ganges and Kistna rivers they occur locally as far west as Bilaspur and Mandla ; they are met with in the Western Ghats as far north as between latitude 17° and 18°, and are likewise found in the hill-forests of Mysore (the hunting district of G. P. Sanderson in his earlier days), as well as still farther south. In this part of the peninsula they ascend the hills to a considerable height, as they do in the Newera Ellia district of Ceylon, where they have been encountered at an elevation of over 7000 feet above the sea. There is historical evidence to prove that about three centuries ago elephants wandered in the forests of Malwa and Nimar, while they survived to a much later date in the Chanda district of the Central Provinces. At the comparatively remote epoch when the Deccan was a forest tract, they were probably also to be met with there, but the swamps of the Bengal Sandarbans appear to be unsuited to their habits. So many excellent accounts of the mode of life of the wild Indian elephant are extant (those by Sir J. E. Emerson Tennent, Sir S. Baker, and Mr. G. P. Sanderson being among the best), that a very short notice will here suffice. The structure of the teeth is sufficient to indicate that the food consists chiefly of grass, leaves, succulent shoots, and fruits ; and this has been found by observation to be actually the case. In this respect the Asiatic species differs very widely trom its African relative, whose nutriment is largely composed of boughs and roots. Another difference between the two animals is to be found in the great intolerance of the direct rays of the sun displayed by the The Elephant 13 Asiatic species, which never voluntarily exposes itself to their influence. Consequently, during the hot season in Upper India, and at all times except during the rains in the more southern districts, elephants keep much to the denser parts of the forests. In Southern India they delight in hill-forest, w^here the undergrowth is largely formed of bamboo, the tender shoots of which form a favourite delicacy ; but during the rains they venture out to feed on the open grass tracts. Water is everywhere essential to their well-being ; and no animals delight more thoroughly in a bath. Nor are they afraid to venture out of their depth, being excellent swimmers, and able, by means of their trunks, to breathe without difficulty when the entire body is submerged. The herds, which are led by females, appear in general to be family parties ; and although commonly restricted to from thirty to fifty, may occasionally include as many as one hundred head. The old bulls are very generally solitary for a considerable portion of the year, but return to the herds during the pairing season. Some " rogue " elephants — giiiida of the natives — remain, however, permanently separated from the rest of their kind. All such solitary bulls, as their colloquial name indicates, are of a spiteful disposition ; and it appears that with the majority the inducement to live apart is due to their partiality for cultivated crops, into which the more timid females are afraid to venture. " Mast " elephants are males in a condition of — probably sexual — excitement, when an abundant discharge of dark oily matter exudes from two pores in the forehead. In addition to various sounds produced at other times, an elephant when about to charge gives vent to a shrill loud " trumpet " ; and on such occasions rushes on its adversary with its trunk safely rolled up out of danger, endeavouring either to pin him to the ground with its tusks (if a male tusker) or to trample him to death beneath its ponderous knees or feet. Exact information in regard to the period of gestation of the female 14 Great and Small Game of India, etc. elephant is still a desideratum ; this being mainlv due to the remarkable circumstance that in India elephants very rarely breed in captivity, although thev are said to do so much more commonlv in Burma and Siam. From observations made in Philadelphia on elephants in a menagerie, Mr. H. C. Chapman estimated the duration of pregnancv at as much as twenty-two months ; but other observers have put it at nineteen, while by some it has been reduced to eighteen months. Possibly the native explanation, that the period is twenty-two months in the case of bull calves, and eighteen in that of females, may prove to be correct. The newly born calf almost immediately stands on its feet, and soon alter sucks, effecting the latter operation by raising its trunk and applying its mouth to the maternal teats, which are two in number and situated between the fore-legs, ^^ery rarely two calves are produced at a birth. Elephant shooting, which is practised on foot, is perhaps the most dangerous of all Indian field-sports ; and a charging elephant needs all the nerve and coolness of the sportsman. Describing the charge of an elephant, Mr. Sanderson observes that " the cocked ears and broad forehead present an immense frontage ; the head is held high, with the trunk curled between the tusks, to be uncoiled in the moment of attack ; the massive fore-legs come down with the force and regularity of ponderous machinery ; and the whole figure is rapidly foreshortened, and appears to double in size with each advancing stride. The trunk being curled and unable to emit any sound, the attack is made in silence, after the usual premonitory shriek."' Here it may be mentioned that an elephant drinks by sucking up water with its trunk and then pouring it into its mouth ; all food being likewise conveyed to the mouth by the same organ. With modern weapons of precision and penetrating power, and the accurate knowledge possessed of the vital points of an elephant by the majority of sportsmen, these animals are now generally despatched with The Elephant 15 comparative speed and certainty. Not so, however, in the old days, as the following account of an old " rogue," whose skull is now in the British Museum, sufficiently attests. This elephant, writes Dr. Falconer, " was killed in the jungles, on the banks of the Ganges, at no great distance from Meerut, in May 1833, by a party of five experienced sportsmen, who went out for the express purpose of killing it. The savage animal made no fewer than twenty-three desperate and gallant charges against a battery of at least sixteen double-barrelled guns, to which it was exposed on each occasion, and fell, after several hours, with its skull literally riddled with bullets. Besides the shot-holes ot its last engagement, the frontal plateau alone bears, above the nasals, the healed canals of at least sixteen bullet- holes received in previous encounters, exclusive of those effaced by the confluent fissures of its latest wounds." An examination of the battered skull shows that not a single bullet had penetrated the comparatively small brain-chamber ; all having traversed merely the surrounding mass of honevcomb-like bone, where they could do but little damage. To reach the vital brain-cavitv, the sportsman selects one of three shots. In the case of the front shot, the point at which to aim varies according to the position of the elephant at the moment of pulling the trigger. When, for instance, the animal is standing facing the sportsman in the ordinary position the point at which to aim is situated in the middle line of the forehead about 3 inches above the plane of the eyes. On the other hand, if the elephant is in the act of charging, the front shot must be planted lower down, near the base of the trunk; and since the bullet has then to traverse a much greater thickness before entering the brain-chamber, high penetrative power on the part of the projectile is of the utmost importance ; moreover, a very slight error in the aim will render this shot ineffectual. When the sportsman is on one side of the elephant, the temple-shot is the most effective ; the ritie being aimed so that the bullet should strike the aperture of the ear, or the immediate 1 6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. neighbourhood of the same, in such a manner as to pass out on the opposite side of the skull in the same region. The rear, or ear-shot, should be planted in the hollow just above the conspicuous bump or swelling at the junction of the jaw and the neck, and should be taken so as to form an angle of about 45° with the elephant's course from behind. In addition to these three head-shots, there is also a shot behind the shoulder, although this does not find much favour among sportsmen. With the aid of the excellent diagrams given in Mr. Sanderson's book, the sportsman who essays elephant shooting for the first time should make a careful study of the vertical section of the skull of one of these animals, so as to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the locality and relations of the brain-chamber. With regard to the best methods of tracking and approaching elephants in the jungle, he cannot possibly do better than consult the well-known work. Thirteen Tears among the Wild Beasts of India, of the sportsman last named. Allusion has already been made to the fits of passion which occur in elephants when mast; but the following remarkable instance of a wild elephant trying conclusions with a railway train, which occurred at Perak, in the Malay Peninsula, on i8th August 1899, i^ worthy of special mention. According to an article in The Asian newspaper of 21st November in the same year, it seems that " the duel occurred in broad daylight, and the elephant was the deliberate aggressor. It appears that the engine-driver, seeing a big tusker ahead on the permanent way, brought his train (a goods) to a standstill ; whereupon the tusker, encouraged by his strange enemy's unwillingness to attack, took the offensive and charged bravely, so bravely that he knocked his tusks to pieces and injured his head, doing, as may be supposed, commensurate damage to the engine. For over an hour, says the story, the elephant held the position, charging repeatedly ; when the driver backed his engine the elephant stood aside, but the moment it advanced he renewed the attack. A truly resolute elephant this, for when he had The Elephant 17 battered his head sore upon the engine, he turned his hind quarters to it and endeavoured thus to overcome it !" Later on in the same article it is stated that " on the night of the i6th of September 1892 an elephant, described as ' not a very old one,' forced his way through the fence near Okturn station on the Rangoon-Mandalay Railway, and strolling up the embankment got upon the metals just as the Mandalay mail came at full speed round a curve. Probably he was utterly bewildered by the rush and roar, with its accompaniment of blazing lamp and spark-showers. At all events he stood his ground and received the attack on his head, with the result that his skull was literally shattered and his carcase thrown over the embankment, the train passing on its way without injury. The fact that the line ran on the top of an embankment at the spot where this encounter took place was probably an important factor in securing the safety of the train. If the collision had occurred in a narrow cutting the elephant's carcase must have derailed the train, and probably caused a serious accident. Yet there recurs to mind particulars of the railway accident which occurred on the night of 28th September 1892. The Bengal-Nagpur up-mail, while travelling at speed about half- past nine through the jungles which flank the line between Gaikara and Monarpur, came suddenly in collision with an elephant. Needless to say it was a pitch dark night. The engine appears to have struck the beast on the flank, for the cowcatcher swept him clean off his legs, and he rested partially on the foot-plate until the driver reduced speed and his body slid down in front of the engine, which now pushed him along the metals, mangling him in a terrible fashion before it pushed his remains aside over the embankment. The train was travelling at a rate of 30 miles an hour, and the elephant was a very big bull, with tusks 6 feet long, and although his weight before the engine helped the brake to stop the train, it was derailed before it could be brought to a standstill. This collision took place on an embankment. It was sheer good luck that the engine D 1 8 Great and Small Game of India, etc. took the elephant fair and square as it did. The remains of the elephant were found dead at the foot of the embankment next morning ; the engine lost both its head-lights in the encounter, the brake gear was injured, and the smoke-box door partially battered in." Before concluding the subject of elephants it may be mentioned that these animals are peculiar among existing warm-blooded quadrupeds for the almost vertical position occupied by the bones of the limbs. " The motions and positions of the elephant's limb," remarks Professor H. F. Osborn, " as shown by instantaneous photography, are very surprising. It is safe to say that the study of the skeleton alone would have given us a very faulty conception of the animal. The two most striking features are the great play of the wrist-joint and the straightness of the limbs. ... In standing, the bones of the fore-limb are in a nearly vertical line from the scapula [shoulder-blade] downwards. The elbow-joint is, in fact, much straighter in extreme extension than we should have inferred experimentally by fitting the bones of the arm and fore-arm together." THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS [Rhinoceros umcornis) Native Names. — Gauuia and Gargadan, Hindustani ; Karkadan, Punjabi ; Gonda, Bengali (Plate I. Fig. 2) No one is likely to confound a " rhino " with a giraffe, and yet these are the only two groups of living animals furnished with a horn situated in the middle line of the skull. ^ The horn of a giraffe is, however, very ^ The southern right-whale has a curious warty protuberance on its nose, which recalls a blunted The Indian Rhinoceros 19 unlike the horn (or horns) of a rhino, being composed of a boss of bone, covered with skin, and situated on the forehead of the skull, to which in adult age it is immovably attached. In all living rhinos, on the other hand, the horn (or horns) is composed of agglutinated hairs, and has no firm attachment to the bones of the skull, which are merely roughened and somewhat elevated so as to fit into the concave base of the solid horn. As Sir Samuel Baker has well remarked, the attachment of the horn of a rhino to the skull is very like that of the leaves of an artichoke to the " choke." In those species of living rhinoceros in which there is but a single horn, this is always placed immediately above the nose, and it is only in the two-horned species that there is a horn on the forehead, comparable in position with the girafi^e's median horn. There is, how- ever, an extinct European rhinoceros with a single horn having the same situation as the latter. An equally marked structural difference obtains between the solid hair-like horn of a rhino and the hollow horn of an ox, sheep, or antelope on the one hand, and the entirely bony antler of a deer, so that these appendages are absolutely distinctive of the former animals. It happens, however, that the female of the Javan rhinoceros is frequently more or less completely hornless, and since the same condition obtained in both sexes of certain extinct species (some of which are found in India), it is obvious that other characters must be sought in order to properly define these animals. Rhinoceroses, then, are huge, clumsily-built animals, with long bodies, large heads, surmounted by the aforesaid horn or horns, short and thick legs, and sparsely-haired or naked skins of great thickness. In all the living species there are three toes to each foot, each encased in a small hoof-like nail at its termination, and the middle one being larger than either of the others, and symmetrical in itself The long and low head presents a markedly concave profile, rising posteriorly into an abrupt ridge or crest, on which are situated the medium-sized and more or less tube- 20 Great and Small Game of India, etc. like ears, whose margins are fringed with bristly hairs. Although there is no trunk, the upper lip is frequently produced into a pointed and semi- prehensile tip ; and the eyes, which are situated on the sides of the head, are small and pig-like. The cylindrical tail does not reach within some distance of the hocks ; and the cows have a pair of teats, situated in the groin. Very characteristic, too, of rhinos are their teeth, although the number of these varies considerably in the different species, the African members of the group having none in the front of the jaws. In spite of showing minor specific modifications, the grinders, or cheek-teeth, are characterised by a very distinct pattern of grinding surface ; the essential elements in those of the upper jaw being a continuous vertical outer wall, from which proceed two transverse crests, separated by a deep open cleft, towards the inner margin of the crown. In some cases the plane of the grinding surface may be nearly horizontal, while in others it is ridged ; and the transverse crests and inner surface of the outer wall may be complicated by projections jutting into the median hollow. Although now confined to Africa and the warmer parts of Asia, rhino- ceroses were formerly distributed over the whole of the Old World (with the exception of Australasia), where they ranged as far north as Siberia, and were likewise represented by hornless species in North America. The living species may therefore be regarded as survivors of a very ancient type of animal. All the three species now found in Asia are broadly distinguished from their African allies by the possession of teeth in the front of the jaws, and by their skins being thrown into a number of loose folds, instead of forming a tight-fitting jacket. It is, however, not a little remarkable that India was at one time the home of a two-horned extinct species [R. platyrhiiuis) closely allied, on the one hand, to the living Burchell's rhinoceros {K. simus) of South Africa, and, on the other, to the extinct woolly rhinoceros (R. antiqidtatis) of Northern Europe and Asia. The Indian Rhinoceros 21 The Indian rhinoceros, as the present species may be called, on account of its being confined to India, is the largest of the three Asiatic species, and specially characterised by the possession of a single horn, coupled with the fact that the fold of skin in front of the shoulder is not continued across the back of the neck, and likewise by the skin of the sides of the body being thickly studded with large rounded tubercles, which have been aptly compared to the heads of the rivets in an iron boiler. Very characteristic, too, are the great folds of skin which surround the back of the head like a coif; the head itself being larger and more elevated at the ears than in either of the other two Asiatic species of the genus. With the exception of a fringe on the margins of the ears, and some bristly hairs on the tail, the coarse and massive skin of this ponderous brute is completely nude, the aforesaid tubercles attaining their maximum development on the shoulders, thighs, and hind-quarters, where they not unfrequently measure fully an inch in diameter. On the limbs the place of these tubercles is taken by a number of small many-sided scales. The main folds in the skin of the body are three in number ; namely, one in front of the shoulder, a second behind the same, and a third in front ot the thighs and hind-quarters, the second and third of these alone being con- tinued across the back, the first inclining backwards towards the second and dying out on the shoulder. In addition to the aforesaid coif-like folds around the head, a deep horizontal pleat separates the shoulder-shield from the fore-leg, while a similar fold divides the rump-shield from the hind limb. Folds also occur on the hinder border of the rump-shield, so that the tail is neatly enclosed in a deep groove, in such a manner that only its terminal portion is visible in a side view of the animal. The horn, although never attaining dimensions anything approaching those of the front horn of the African species, is well developed in both sexes ; and the general colour of the skin is uniformly blackish grey, showing more or less of pink on the margins of the folds. 22 Great and Small Game of India, etc. A male measured by General A. A. Kinloch stood 5 feet 9 inches at the shoulder, and was 10^ feet in length from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail ; the tail itself being 2 feet 5 inches in length. These dimensions are the largest given by Mr. W. T. Blanford in the Fauna of British India — Mammals. Much larger dimensions are, however, recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward in the third edition of Records of Big Game, in the case of specimens shot by the Maharaja of Kuch Behar ; the height in three specimens being respectively 6 feet 4 inches, 6 feet i inch, and 6 feet ^ inch ; the length of the head and body 1 1 feet 1 1 inches, 1 1 feet 2 inches, and 11 feet 8 inches; and the total length 14 feet i inch, 13 feet 2 inches, and 13 feet 10 inches, in the same three examples. As a rule, the length of the horn does not exceed about a foot. Mr. Rowland Ward records, however, a length of 24 inches in a specimen formerly in the possession of the late Dr. Jerdon, and assigned to the present species ; and 19^ inches is the length of a horn in the British Museum. A specimen measuring 19 inches, which comes next on Mr. Ward's list, is stated to be from Burma, and therefore, if the locality be correct, must belong to another species. Three specimens of 16 inches, or over, are recorded from Assam and Kuch Behar. Recently the Maharaja of Kuch Behar obtained a female horn measuring i6\ inches in length, which is the record tor that sex. As regards its teeth, the Indian rhinoceros has usually one pair of upper and two of lower incisors ; the outermost pair of the latter being large, tusk-like, and projecting from the angles of the lower jaw, so as to form formidable weapons of offence when wielded by an animal of the weight and strength of the present species. The cheek-teeth are characterised by their flat plane of wear and complex pattern, the former feature being indicative of grass-eating habits on the part of their owner. Teeth of this type have been discovered in Madras and at Bunda, in the North-West Provinces, as well as in the river-gravels of the Narbada The Indian Rhinoceros 23 valley, and may be taken to indicate that the range of the species included these parts of India. There is historical evidence to prove that during the early part of the sixteenth century the Indian rhinoceros was common in the Punjab, where it extended across the Indus as far as Peshawur ; and down to the middle of the present century, or even later, it was to be met with along the foot of the Himalaya as far west as Rohilcund and Nepal, and it survived longer still in the Terai-lands of Sikhim. Not improbably, too, the rhinoceroses found till about the year 1850 in the grass-jungles of the Rajmehal Hills, in Bengal, belonged to the present species. Now however, this huge animal has retreated almost, if not entirely, to the eastward of the Tista valley, on the borders of Kuch Behar ; its main strongholds being the great grass-jungles of that province and of Assam. In these jungles the Indian rhino (which, by the way, is the rhinoceros par excellence^ being the type ot the Linnean genus ot that name) not only dwells, but is as completely concealed therein as is a rabbit in a cornfield. To those who have never seen an Indian grass-jungle, it may seem incredible that such a huge animal should be hidden by such covert, but when it is realised that the grass of which they are formed grows to a height of between 10 and 20 feet, the difficulty vanishes. As a matter of fact, the rhinoceros, like the Indian buffalo, makes regular tunnels, or " runs," among this gigantic grass ; and from these retreats it may be driven out by beating with a line of elephants, or by tracking it up on foot. When driven into the open, the animal will often stand for a few minutes, shaking its ears, before it makes up its mind in which direction to flee. A calf and its mother will of course issue forth together, but the old bulls and cows keep mostly apart, although both may have their home in the same patch of jungle. Those who have seen an Indian rhino careering round its enclosure at the " Zoo " after a mud-bath, with its heavy, lumbering gallop, will not fail to realise that a charge from such a monster must be a serious matter. Fortunately, however, in spite of 24 Great and Small Game of India, etc. stories to the contrary, the creature in its wild state appears to be ot a mild and harmless disposition, seeking rather to escape from its enemies by flight than to rout them by attack. When badly wounded, or so hustled about by elephants and beaters as to become bewildered, a rhino will however, occasionally charge home. In such onslaughts it is the common belief that the animal, like its African cousins, uses its horn as its weapon of offence ; but this appears to be one of the numerous popular errors in natural history, and it is stated by competent authorities that the real weapons are the triangular and sharply-pointed lower tusks. With these a sweeping cut can be made in the leg of an elephant, in much the same way as a boar rips up a horse. Probably all the Asiatic members of the genus attack in the same fashion. Like all its kindred, the Indian rhinoceros dearly loves a mud-bath, and when plastered over with the odoriferous mud of some swamp or pool, is even a more unprepossessing creature than ordinary. Its favourite haunts are generally in the near neighbourhood of swamps ; and hilly districts are studiously avoided by this species. K4orning and evening are its chief feeding-times, the heat of the day being generally passed in slumber. As already stated, the structure of its teeth indicates that its food is chiefly grass ; and such observations as have been made confirm the truth of this inference. Individuals have lived for over twenty years in the London "Zoo," and it is stated that others have been known to have been kept in confinement for fully fifty years. Consequently, there is no doubt that the animal is very long-lived, Brian Hodgson suggesting that its term of life may reach as much as a century. The cow gives birth to a single young one at a time, but information is required in regard to the duration ot the period of gestation and the frequency with which births take place. It was an old idea that the hide of the Indian rhinoceros was bullet- proof; but this was erroneous even in regard to such antiquated weapons as the military " Brown Bess." As trophies, sportsmen may preserve 6c Small Game of India 6cc . Plate 1. L^;i>^ Pailislvid, hy XmlanA Vlard, lU PLATE I 1. Indian Elephant. 4. Sumatran Rhinoceros.' 2. Indian Rhinoceros. 5. Malay Tapir. 3. Javan Rhinoceros. 6. Kiang. From a Malay specimen. The Malay animal differs from the chestnut-haired Indian form by its black hair, and probably represents a distinct race {R. sumatreiisis n'lger). The Javan Rhinoceros 25 either the entire head or the horn alone ; in addition to which a shield- shaped piece of skin is frequently cut from the under surface of the body, where it is thinner than elsewhere, and kept as a memento of a successful " shikar." Kuch Behar is now one of the great centres for rhino-shooting, fine specimens having been obtained by the Maharaja himself It was in this territory that the Duke of Portland obtained his specimens in 1882. Shooting females is strictly prohibited in Kuch Behar, as it probably also is in Assam. There is no evidence that this rhinoceros was ever found in Ceylon (where, indeed, the genus is unknown), or in the countries to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal, so that it is one of the comparatively few species of large animals strictly confined to the peninsula of India. THE JAVAN RHINOCEROS {RhinoctTos sondaicus) Native Names. — Gainda, Hindustani; Gonda, Bengali; Kunda, Kedi, AND Kweda OF THE Nagas ; Kyefig and Kyan-tsheni, Burmese ; Badak, Malay (Plate I. Fig. 3) Although possessing but a single horn, the Javan rhinoceros is a very different beast, both externally and in its internal anatomy, to the preceding species. In the first place, although measurements of adult males are still required, it is a somewhat smaller and lighter-built animal, with a relatively less bulky and less elevated head. Then, too, the folds of skin round the neck are much less developed, and the body- fold on the shoulders is continued right across the back in the same manner as are the other two great folds. Moreover, owing to the E 26 Great and Small Game of India, etc. absence of the deep groove on the rump, the tail stands out quite distinct from the hind-quarters, so that its whole extent is exposed in a side view of the animal. Very characteristic, also, is the structure of the skin, which lacks the " boiler- rivets " of the great Indian species, and is marked all over with a kind of mosaic -like pattern, caused by the presence of a network of fine cracks in the superficial layer. A piece of skin cut from any part of the body is therefore amply sufficient to determine to which of the two species it pertained. Yet another peculiarity of the Javan rhinoceros is to be found in the frequent, if not invariable, absence of the horn in the female. Male horns of between lo and ii inches in length are recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward in Records of Big Game. In the same work, under the head of R. unicornis., reference is made to a horn of 12 inches in length belonging to an individual shot by General Kinloch in the Bhutan Duars. This animal is, however, probably the one alluded to by Mr. Blanford as having been killed in the Sikhim Terai, and assigned to the present species. As regards the height of the animal, the most authentic measurement of a wild specimen is that of a female, which stood 5^ feet at the shoulder ; males must almost certainly attain larger dimensions. It remains to mention that the present species is of the same dusky- grey colour as the last, and that its hide is equally devoid of hair. Its teeth, although numerically the same as in the Indian rhinoceros, show a simpler pattern in those of the cheek series, while their crowns wear into ridges, instead of a uniformly flat plane. This may be taken to indicate that the present species feeds chiefly upon twigs and leaves. Typically an inhabitant of Java, this rhinoceros is also found in the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, as well as in the Malay Peninsula, whence it extends northwards through Burma into Assam, and so into Eastern Bengal and the Sandarbans. As already mentioned, it has been killed as The Sumatran Rhinoceros 27 far west as the Sikhim Terai. So far as present information goes, the mainland form cannot be distinguished from those inhabiting the Malay islands, so that separate local races cannot yet be differentiated. It is, however, by no means unlikely that this is due to the want of a good series of specimens ; and it may be mentioned, as a circumstance by no means creditable to sportsmen, that at the present time the British Museum has, in addition to skulls and skeletons, only the skin of a young calf in a condition fit for public exhibition. Although found in the swampy Sandarbans of Lower Bengal, within a day's journey of Calcutta, the Javan rhinoceros usually prefers forest tracts to grass-jungles, and is very generally met with in hilly districts, apparently ascending in some portions of its habitat to an elevation of several thousand teet above the sea- level. In most other respects the mode of life of this species is probably very similar to that of its larger relative ; its disposition is, however, stated to be more gentle, and in Java tame individuals are frequently to be seen wandering about the villages of the natives. HAIRY-EARED SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS [R/iii!oce!'os sumatrcnsis lasiotis) Native Names. — Kyan and Kyan-shaii\ Burmese ; BaJak, Malay (Plate I. Fig. 4) Although possessed of two horns, the Sumatran rhinoceros resembles its Asiatic brethren in having teeth in the front of the jaws, as well as by its folded skin, and has therefore nothing to do with the African representatives of the fimily. As compared with the other Asiatic species, the presence of an additional horn, coupled with the fact that 28 Great and Small Game of India, etc. it has only a single pair of lower front teeth (the small central pair occurring between the tusks in the other two species being absent), afford ample grounds for regarding this rhinoceros as the representative of a group by itself; and it is noteworthy that an extinct rhinoceros whose remains are met with on the continent of Europe appears to be another member of the same group of the genus. To distinguish the present species from all its relatives, it is really sufficient to say that it is the only living rhino with two horns and a folded skin ; but since it is an animal by no means familiar to the majority of sportsmen, it is advisable to enter somewhat into details. In the first place, then, this species has the distinction of being the smallest of living rhinos, as it is by far the most hairy, its usual height at the shoulder not being more than 4 to 4^ feet, and the length from the tip of the muzzle to the root of the tail only about 8 feet. Some female specimens even fall short of the foregoing dimensions, an old individual of the typical race from the Malay Peninsula being only 3 feet 8 inches at the withers. The weight of the animal has been estimated at a couple of thousand pounds. As though suggestive of a transition towards the smooth -skinned rhinos of Africa, the folds in the skin of the present species are much less pronounced than in the other Asiatic kinds ; and of the three main folds, only one, namely, that situated behind the shoulder, is continued across the back. In structure, the outer surface of the skin is finely granular ; and its colour, which varies from an earthy -brown almost to black, is likewise quite different from that of either of the one- horned species. Hair is developed sparsely all over the head and body, but attains its maximum development on the ears and the tail, its colour varying from brown to black. At their base the two horns are separated from one another by a considerable interval ; and although in captive individuals they are generally much worn down, when fully developed The Sumatran Rhinoceros 29 they are slender for the greater part of their length, the front one curving backwards in an elegant sweep, and attaining a very considerable size. The longest known specimen of the front horn is in the British Museum, and has a length of 32^ inches, with a basal girth of ij'-^ inches ; a second specimen in the same collection measuring zj^ inches in length and 17I in circumference. As regards the cheek-teeth, those of the upper jaw are practically indistinguishable from the corresponding molars of the Javan rhinoceros, and may accordingly be taken as indicative of the leaf and twig-eating propensities of this species. The Sumatran rhinoceros occurs typically in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, and is likewise met with in the Malay Peninsula. Thence it extends northwards through Burma and Tenasserim to Chittagong and Assam ; and it also occurs in Siam. Compared with the typical Sumatran animal [R. siimatrensis typicus), a specimen from Chittagong, till recently living in the London Zoological Gardens, was found to be distinguishable by its superior dimensions, paler and browner hair, shorter and more fully tutted tail, and the strongly developed fringe on the margins of the ears, the interior of which was bare. The skull, too, was proportionately broader ; but this, in spite of assertions to the contrary, seems to be a feature of minor import. On account of these differences the Chittagong rhinoceros was regarded by its describer, Mr. P. L. Sclater, as a distinct species ; but it can scarcely be regarded as more than a local race, which somewhere in Burma probably passes into the typical form. Other specimens of the hairy-eared race have been subsequently obtained in Assam, where the species is rare ; and one example has been killed in Tippera, and a second in the Bhutan Duars. In habits the Sumatran rhinoceros appears to be very similar to the Javan species ; both affecting forested hill-country, which may be at a considerable altitude above the sea. In the Mergui Archipelago a rhino. 30 Great and Small Game of India, etc. which may be this species, is stated to have been seen swimming from island to island ; and it is probable that all the Asiatic representatives of the family will take readily to the water, although in Somaliland the common African rhinoceros is found in absolutely arid districts, where it cannot even drink for long periods. The type specimen of this race of the Sumatran rhinoceros was a female, captured at Chittagong in the year 1868. When discovered by native hunters she was embedded in a quicksand, and well-nigh exhausted by her struggles to reach terra Jirma. By attaching ropes to her neck she was safely extricated from her perilous position, and securely fastened to a tree, where next morning she was found so refreshed and so violent that her captors were afraid to make a near approach. Accordingly, a report of the capture was sent in to Chittagong, and soon after a couple of English officials arrived with elephants, to one of which the rhino was made fast, and, after some trouble, marched into the station, where she soon became very tame. Eventually she was secured for the menagerie of the London Zoological Society, in whose Proceedings for 1872 her coloured portrait appeared. By a lucky coincidence, a specimen of the typical representative of the species was procured by the Society at the close of 1872, so that the two forms were exhibited side by side in the menagerie. While in the docks the Chittagong animal gave birth to a young one ; and from certain facts that came to his knowledge, the late Mr. A. D. Bartlett (who has given an interesting account of the circum- stance) was led to the conclusion that the period of gestation in the species was only a little over seven months. She died in the autumn of 1900. It should be added that Mr. J. Cockburn (who wrote on the subject in The Asian newspaper of 20th July 1880) is entitled to the credit of recognising that the present form, instead of being entitled to rank as a species by itself, is a local race of the Sumatran rhinoceros ; his view being adopted by Mr. W. T. Blanford in the Fauna of British India. The Malay Tapir 31 THE MALAY TAPIR ( Tapirus indicus) Native Names. — Tara-shii^ Burmese ; Kuda-ayer and Tennu, Malay (Plate I. Fig. 5) Together with the zebras and wild asses, the tapirs (as they are called by an abbreviation of the native name of one of the South American species) offer but little attraction to the sportsman, since they yield nothing in the way of trophies save their skulls and skins, and the latter are valuable only as leather. Nevertheless, they are animals by no means lacking in interest, if only from the point of view of their very remarkable geographical distribution. Although the common South American tapir was known by repute to the Swiss naturalist Linne, who at first described it as a terrestrial species of hippopotamus, but afterwards had doubts as to its very existence, it was not till the year 1816 that naturalists were made aware that another species inhabited the jungles of the Malay Peninsula. For this important information they were indebted to a Major Farquhar, who described with some care an individual then living in the menagerie of the Governor-General of India at Barrackpur, although he unfortunately omitted to assign to the Oriental species a distinctive scientific name. This discovery revealed the singular fact that tapirs are common to the Malay countries and South and Central America, but at the present day are found in no other part of the world. And were it not for the investi- gations into the past history of the inhabitants of our globe, we should have been at a loss to explain such a very remarkable instance of what naturalists call discontinuous distribution. But the researches in question have revealed the fact that in past epochs these animals were distributed 32 Great and Small Game of India, etc. over a considerable portion of the northern hemisphere, whence they wandered southwards to their present widely sundered dwelling-places. Although in Asia, at any rate, animals that but seldom come under the ken of the sportsman in their wild condition, tapirs have been made familiar to the public from the specimens exhibited in our menageries and museums. In size they may be compared to heavily-built and short- limbed donkeys, but from their comparatively bare skins, general shape, and long flexible snouts, they present a superficial resemblance to large swine, with which group of animals many persons are inclined to associate them. An examination of their feet, in which one toe is much larger than either of the others, and symmetrical in itself, is, however, sufficient to show the incorrectness of this idea, and to indicate that their true relationship is with the rhinoceros. Unlike the latter animals, tapirs have, however, four toes on the front feet, although in the hind feet the number is three in both groups. From the rhinoceroses, the present animals are likewise distinguished by the production of the nose and upper lip into a short, mobile proboscis, or trunk. The teeth, too, are quite difi^erent, both in number and form, from those of the last-mentioned groups, their total number being forty-two. Both jaws are furnished with a full set of incisors, or "nippers," and tusks ; while the cheek-teeth present a pattern quite different from that obtaining among the rhinoceroses. Tapirs have the tail short, the ears of medium size and oval shape, small, pig-like eyes, and short, sparse hair. The Malay species, which is the largest of its kind, is readily dis- tinguished from its South American cousins by its parti-coloured hide ; the head, limbs, and front part of the body being dark brown or black, while all that portion of the body situated behind the shoulders, including the rump and the upper part of the thighs, together with the tips of the ears, is greyish white or white in the adult. In very young animals, on the other hand, that is to say, those not exceeding from four to six months The Malay Tapir 33 in age, the ground-colour is blackish brown or black, upon which are spots and longitudinal streaks of yellow on the head and sides and of white on the under-parts. The hair, too, is markedly denser than in the full-grown animal. In height an adult Malay tapir will stand from 3 to 3-^ feet at the withers and about 4 inches more at the rump ; while the length from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail, measured along the curves of the body, will be about 8 feet. The geographical distribution of this animal includes the island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and thence northwards into the Tenasserim province about as far as the fifteenth parallel of north latitude. In its wild state, little or nothing authentic has been ascertained with regard to the mode of life of the Malay tapir ; and the writer is un- acquainted with any account of the chase of this animal by European sportsmen. Its habits, are, however, in all probability very similar to those of the American representatives of the genus. These latter are shy and retiring animals, dwelling amid thick jungle in the neighbourhood of water, to which they take readily. Between the years 1840 and 1896 seven examples of the Malay tapir have been exhibited in the Menagerie of the London Zoological Society. The majority have, how- ever, survived but a short period in that establishment, at least two of them dying within a year of the time of their acquisition. 34 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE KIANG, OR TIBETAN WILD ASS [Eqims he II! /onus) Native Name. — Kiang, Tibetan (Plate I. Fig. 6) It was long considered by naturalists that there were at least three distinct species of wild ass in iVsia, but fuller materials have led to the conclusion that these are but local races of a single species, the Asiatic wild ass, of which the kiang of Ladak and Tibet is the typical repre- sentative, so that its full title should be TLquiis hemioiuis typiciis. The North African and the Asiatic wild asses have by some writers been separated as a genus by themselves [Asiiiiis], while their near relatives, the zebras (with which they are intimately connected through the now extinct quagga) have been made the type of yet another genus, under the name of Wppotigris. Both asses and zebras differ from the horse by the shorter and upright mane, the less abundant development of long hair on the tail, and likewise by the absence of warty pads on the inner side of the hind-leg, although such are present on the fore-legs of all the members of the family. Such differences are, however, but slight, and it seems better to regard the horse, the zebras, and the asses as respectively representing three subgeneric groups of one and the same genus ; the asses being distinguishable from the zebras by the reduction of the dark markings on the body to a dorsal streak and a shoulder-stripe (the latter of which may be wanting), and the unstriped head. It may be added that the com- paratively short hairs of the mane of the asses and zebras are annually shed, whereas the long mane-hairs of the horse are persistent. The Asiatic wild ass differs from its African cousin (of which the domesticated breeds The Kiang 35 are but more or less degenerate descendants) by the relatively shorter ears and the redder tone of coloration. In general colour the Asiatic wild ass (inclusive of its various races) varies from a greyish fawn, or isabelline, to bright chestnut on the upper-parts ; the muzzle, throat, chest, under-parts, and inner surface -The Kiang, from a specimen living at Wobur Photographed by the Duchess of Bedford. Abbey. of the limbs being pure white. Along the back, from the nape of the neck to the root of the tail, runs a dark brown stripe of variable width, which has sometimes a whitish margin on each side ; this stripe including the mane, and extending partly on to the tail, the tip of which is blackish. A dark transverse shoulder-stripe may sometimes be present ; and it is stated that faint traces of dark barrings are visible 36 Great and Small Game of India, etc. on the limbs. The height is given by Mr. Blanford as ranging between 3 feet 8 inches and 4 feet (11 and 12 hands), but Mr. Sterndale states that the kiang may stand as much as 14 hands, this being probably nearer to the truth. The kiang, or typical race, of the species is specially distinguished by its darker and redder colour, and the narrower dorsal stripe ; while it is certainly larger than some representatives of the other races. A mounted specimen in the British Museum, shot in Ladak by Mr. Powell- Cotton, stands 4 feet 5 inches (13 hands i inch) at the withers. In summer the coat is short, fine, and sleek, but in winter it is longer, coarser, and curly, with a tendency to a woolly character. Whether similar differences occur between the winter and summer coats of the Baluchi race remains to be ascertained, but it is quite probable that they are not so marked. The kiang inhabits the higher desert tracts of Ladak and Tibet, from about 13,000 to 18,000 feet above the sea, or even more; and is found commonly in the Chang -chenmo valley, as well as on the Indus itself some few days' march above the town of Leh. Here it is generally met with in small troops, but sometimes singly ; and in districts where it has not been much disturbed displays but little fear, galloping in circles round the mounted traveller as he approaches its haunts. Young individuals sometimes display a curiosity which overcomes all sense of fear ; one (whose skull is now in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons) having on a certain occasion rashly ventured into the writer's camp in Chang-chenmo. Across their rough native country these animals are wonderful goers, their hoofs being as hard as iron ; and could they only be properly domesticated, they would be invaluable as beasts of transport across these dreary elevated regions, where ponies often succumb to the climate and want of proper food. Being able to subsist on the scrubby herbage, they would be far more useful than The Kiang 37 yaks, which cannot do without grass. But, ahhough the individual at Woburn Abbey whose portrait is here given is fairly amenable to discipline, kiang, as a rule, refuse to submit themselves to the hard- ships of servitude ; the writer having a vivid recollection of the malignant disposition of a specimen kept in captivity by the Governor of Ladak in the seventies. Much good ink has been wasted by sportsmen in a fruitless discussion as to whether the kiang is a horse or a donkey, the point at issue being whether it brays or neighs. Whatever may be the proper term to apply to its cry (which has been described as a shrieking bray), there can be no doubt, from its bodily conformation, that it comes under the designation of an ass, although in its shorter ears it is a little more horse- like than its African cousin. As an animal of sport, little can be said in favour of the kiang, as it yields no trophies, and can be easily approached within 150 yards, or even less, when a well-placed Lee-Metford bullet should drop it dead in its tracks, or at all events after a short run. Many sportsmen shoot a specimen or two, and bring back the hide or skull, or both ; but this much generally suffices for most men. But in addition to being nothing of a catch for the sportsman, the kiang is very frequently a positive detrimental to those in quest of nobler game, such as argali. By careering wildly about in the neighbourhood of the stalker, kiang render all the animals within sight suspicious of danger, even although their human foe may be most carefully concealed from their view. In such cases an apparently favourable stalk may frequently be brought to an abrupt conclusion by the sudden disappearance of the game, which have taken alarm from the movements of the kiang. Whether, in the rare atmosphere of the elevated regions in which it dwells, the kiang is as fleet an animal as the wild ass of Baluchistan and Kutch, has not yet been determined. Neither have we, apparently, any 38 Great and Small Game of India, etc. definite intormation as to the season when the foals are dropped, and the length of the period of gestation. The latter is, however, probably much the same as in the mare and the domestic ass, and the young are almost certainly born during the summer. Both the wiry grass of Ladak and various dwarf scrubby plants serve as the chief food of the kiang. THE GHORKHAR, OR BALUCHI WILD ASS [Eqiii/s hemioniis oiiager) Native Names. — Ghor-khar, Persian and Hindustani ; Ghiir and Gluirdu, Baluchi As already mentioned, the wild ass of Baluchistan and the districts of Western India is only a local race of Equi/s hemioniis, and not a species by itself From the kiang, or typical representative of the species, it is distinguished by its duller and less rutous colour, and also by the greater breadth of the brown stripe down the back, which is always distinctly margined on both sides by a narrow white or whitish line. An adult female shot by Mr. W. T. Blanford in 1882 measured 3 feet 10 inches at the withers. The ghorkhar is a dweller in the sandy deserts of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and other districts on the west of the Indus, — Mithankot, on the Punjab frontier, being a noted locality for these animals. But they are by no means restricted to the trans- Indus districts, a certain number being met with to the eastward of that river, in the Bickanir desert, Jesalmere, and that dreary tract of salt-pans known as the Rann of Kutch. From Baluchistan, where they are comparatively rare, wild asses extend into Persia and Syria ; the Persian form (£. hemionus hemippiis) being regarded by naturalists as a distinct race, although evidently very close to the ghorkhar, with which, indeed, it probably intergrades. The Ghorkhar 39 The Baluchi wild ass appears to be a much more gregarious animal than its Tibetan relative, thirty or forty head being frequently seen in a troop ; and Dr. J. Aitchison, when on the Afghan Delimitation Commission, states that in North -Western Afghanistan, during the month of April, he encountered a troop which he estimated to include about a thousand individuals. In the trans-Indus districts the mares of this race give birth to their foals during the summer, from June to August. The horsemen of the Rann of Kutch appear to take advantage of the mares when in foal by riding them down and spearing them ; Mr. Blanford believing that this feat (which is certainly practised) could not be accomplished under any other circumstances, on account of the extreme fleetness of these animals. Baluchis, mounted on their swift mares, capture young ghorkhar by riding after them in relays, sometimes with the aid of greyhounds, until they succumb from sheer exhaustion. Probably in certain parts of their habitat, such as the Rann of Kutch, where, at certain seasons, there is no water but such as is salt, ghorkhar must go for considerable periods without drinking. Like the kiang, these wild asses, in spite ot their fleetness of foot, are by no means well-bred-looking animals, the head being disproportionately large and heavy, as well as ungracefully carried. 40 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE GAUR, OR (SO-CALLED) INDIAN BISON [Bos gaiiriis) Native Names. — Gaiir and Gaiiri-gai, Hindustani ; Gayal in Orissa ; Gaor (male) and Gaib (female) in Chutia Nagpur ; Saiiial, Ho-kol ; Gaviya, Mahrathi ; Pera-mao of the Southern Gonds ; Katii- erifnai, Tamil ; Karkofia, Karti, Kard-yemme, Kard-korna and Doddu, Canarese ; Karthu and Paothii, Malabari ; Mithan, Assamese ; Selori IN Chittagong ; P young, Burmese ; Saiadang, Malay (Plate II. Figs, i, i^) In addition to the foregoing sufficiently heavy list of designations, the great wild ox of India is frequently called in various parts of the peninsula by several names meaning wild buffalo. By English sportsmen, on the other hand, this magnificent animal is almost invariably called bison — a title properly belonging to Bos bonasiis of Lithuania and the Caucasus. Questions are sometimes asked in sporting newspapers whether the application of the term bison to the gaur is legitimate. The answer is very simple, namely, that it is not. Domesticated oxen (together with their extinct wild progenitors), gaur and gayal, bison, yak, and buffaloes collectively constitute the ox tribe. And since the domesticated ox is the type of the whole group, they may all, in a general sense, be classed as oxen. Had the bison of Europe been made the typical representative of the group, then that term might likewise have been employed in the same general sense, and the gaur termed a bison as it now is an ox. But as matters stand, such a usage is totally indefensible. The true domesticated oxen form one division of the group. Next to this comes a second and nearly allied section of the group com- prising the gaur, the gayal, and the banting ; all the members of which h 42 Great and Small Game of India, etc. are characterised by their elevated withers, short hair, and " white- stockinged " limbs. The third section includes the European and American bisons (the former commonly miscalled aurochs, and the latter buffalo), with which the yak may perhaps be included, all these having long hair on some part of the body, uniformly dark limbs, and lacking the ridge-like hump of the second section. Lastly, there are the buffaloes, differing from all the others by the peculiar form of their horns. Each sectional group is perfectly well defined, and it would be just as logical to call the gaur a buffalo as to dub it a bison. But since there are few things more difficult to amend than popular misapplications of names, a bison it will probably remain among sportsmen for many years to come. Of the general characteristics of the ox tribe but little need be said here. With the exception of a few stunted island forms, the members of the group are large and heavily-built animals, with a short and deep neck, a massive head, carried somewhat low, and frequently a large dewlap on the throat and chest. The broad muzzle is devoid of hair, with a moist skin ; there are no glands on either the face or the legs or between the hoofs ; and the udders of the cows have four teats. The horns (which, in common with those of the members of the family Bovii^a; form a transversely situated pair, and consist of hollow sheaths of horn surmounting conical bony cores arising from the skull) are present in both sexes, and not very much smaller in the cows than in the bulls. They are placed on or near the vertex of the skull, where they are usually widely separated at the base. Their direction is at first more or less outwards, after which they curve upwards, and generally more or less inwards towards the tips. Although cylindrical in the more typical members of the group, in the buffaloes they become distinctly triangular in cross-section ; and while in the former they are almost completely smooth externally, in the latter they are marked with irregular transverse groovings and ridges. In colour the horns may be of any shade between olive-green and black. The ears are of medium The Gaur 43 size and bluntly pointed ; and the long cylindrical tail is generally tufted at the tip, although in some cases long-haired throughout its length. In regard to the length and abundance of the coat, there is every gradation from the sparsely-haired hide of the buffaloes to the long-haired pelt of the yak ; there is little or no seasonal difference in the colour of the coat, which, with the occasional exception of the lower portion of the legs, and very rarely of the buttocks, is uniform. Lastly, it is important to mention that the oxen are specially characterised by the square prismatic form of their long-crowned cheek-teeth. The group of wild oxen of which the gaur is the best-known repre- sentative is confined to the Indo-Malayan countries, and includes three species presenting a number of characters in common. Compared with the ancient wild ox of Europe, skulls and skeletons of which are preserved in our museums, these Oriental oxen are distinguished by the shorter fore- head, the nearer approximation of the eyes to the base of the horns, a more or less marked compression of the horns, especially near the base, and the relatively shorter tail, the tufted tip of which hangs but little below the level of the hocks. More important, perhaps, than all, is an elevated ridge extending from the neck and shoulders to the middle of the back, where, in its most developed condition, it forms a sudden step-like descent towards the loins. In old bulls the colour is generally blackish brown, but in cows and young bulls either a paler shade of the same or red ; the legs, from above the knees and hocks downwards, being, in both sexes and at all ages, white or yellowish. All the three species have short sleek coats, without a mane or long hair on the withers ; the hoofs in all are narrow and game- like ; and the number of pairs of ribs in the skeleton is thirteen. Although artists, who have for the most part to make their sketches from stuffed specimens, are only too apt to give it a meek and mild expression, like a Jersey cow, the bull gaur is one of the boldest and handsomest members of the ox tribe, the late Mr. G. P. Sanderson even going so far 44 Great and Small Game of India, etc. as to say that it " is undoubtedly the finest species of the genus Bos in the world." Standing occasionally as much as 6 feet or even 6 feet 4 inches (19 hands) ^ at the withers, although frequently not exceeding 5|- feet, the bull gaur is at once distinguishable from all its relatives by the great arched and forwardly-curving crest, which communicates a marked and distinctive concavity to the profile of the forehead, of which there is no trace in any other species. The massive horns, which are much flattened from back to front at the base, v/here they are marked by exfoliating rings, spread outwards from each side of this broad crest in a bold sweep, the curve continuing throughout their length, with the tips, when perfect, inclining inwards and slightly backwards. Very frequently, however, one or both tips are broken off" during the fierce combats for supremacy in which the bulls are wont to engage. In colour the horns are pale greenish or yellowish for the greater portion of their length, gradually passing into black at the tips. , Horns of 30 inches and over along the curve may be regarded as fine trophies, Mr. Rowland Ward recording only twenty-one specimens in which the measurement mentioned is exceeded. The " record " specimen has a length of 29\ inches along the outer curve, with a basal circumference of 20]. and a tip-to-tip interval of i8f inches; this specimen, which came, from Salwen in Burma, being in the Museum of the Natural History Society of Bombay. In the next biggest, which is from Travancore, the three dimensions mentioned above are respectively 39, i()\, and 18^ inches. The curve-lengths of the next four specimens on the list are respectively 35, 34!, 34, and 33I inches. Regarding other features in the personal appearance of the bull gaur, it may be mentioned that while his ears are relatively large and spreading, his tail is comparatively short, only just reaching the hocks ; the dewlap, 1 Mr. Stuart-Baker {Asian, 27th Februar)- 1900) says that gaur may stand 21 hands (7 feet) in Kachar. A similar statement is made by Colonel Pollok with regard to the Burmese representative of the species, and this is confirmed by Mr. Bruce in the sequel. The Gaur 4^ too, is, in Indian specimens at any rate, but slightly developed.^ A very marked character is the strong development of the dorsal ridge, and its very sudden termination in a step about midway between the shoulders and the root ot the tail. The general colour of the short and sleek hair, which becomes very sparse on the back of aged bulls, is olive brown, tending almost to black ; on the under-parts it becomes paler, but is golden Fig. 4. — Skull and Horns of Cow Gaur. From a specimen in the possession of Mr. A. O. Hume. brown at the points of origin of the legs ; the forehead, from between the eyes across the horn-crest, and so on to the nape of the neck, is ashy grey, in some instances passing into whitey brown or dirty white ; the muzzle is pale slate-coloured ; and the lower portions of the limbs, from above the knees and hocks downwards, are pure white. The iris of the eye is, in 1 In the Appendix Mr. Bruce states that full-grown Burmese bull gaur, which he describes as black, have a distinct dewlap. This may indicate that the Burmese form is a distinct race. 46 Great and Small Game of India, etc. both sexes, light blue. In cows and young bulls the general hue is some- what paler, in some cases, especially during winter and in dry and open districts, tending to rufous. Calves have been said to show a dark dorsal streak. The horns of the cows (Plate II. Fig. la) are smaller, thinner, and less expanded than those of bulls. The longest pair of gaur horns definitely recorded as those of a cow are from Travancore, and are repre- sented in the annexed text-figure. They measure 24 inches in length along the outer curve, i 2i: in basal circumference, and 1 3 between the tips. Other specimens have been recorded, of which the respective lengths are 22, 20^, and 19^ inches. Being essentially forest-dwelling animals, gaur are not, for the most part, found in the tall grass-jungles of the Ganges plain, which form the home of the Indian buffalo and rhinoceros, although they impinge to a certain extent into this tract along the foot of the Himalaya. Their ordinary resorts are the extensive tracts of hill-forests occurring in many parts of India, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and very probably also ot Cochin China and Siam. At the present day these fine cattle are quite unknown in any of the Indo-Malayan islands, although there is a tradition to the effect that they formerly occurred in Ceylon ; but even if such were really the case, it is quite likely that they were introduced into that island. The north-western range of the species in India is probably limited by the Rajpipla Hills, in the neighbourhood of Broach ; while to the west of the eightieth parallel of latitude the northern limit is very nearly coincident with the line of the Narbada valley. Along the foot of the Himalaya gaur are found in the forest tracts as far westward as Nepal ; while to the southward of the Ganges valley they survive in many of the forests of Chutia Nagpur, Orissa, the Northern Circars, the Central Provinces, Hyderabad, Mysore, and the Western Ghats, although from some localities they have already disappeared, and are becoming scarcer in others. Whether gaur from the countries to the eastward of the Bay of The Gaur 47 Bengal present such constant differences from the Indian animal as to entitle them to be regarded as representing a distinct local race cannot yet be determined, the number of specimens in our museums being insufficient for this purpose. It may be added that unless these institu- tions are " run " on very different lines from those now followed, the question is likely to remain open. The Burmese gaur has been said to be a taller animal (attaining close on 21 hands at the shoulder, according to one sportsman), with the ridge on the back extending farther towards the rump, the hollow in the forehead deeper, the crest between the horns higher, and the horns themselves heavier and thicker, with their tips seldom worn. The profile, too, of the lower portion of the face is stated to be more convex and ram-like than that of gaur from the Wynad district ; but in this respect bulls from the Western Ghats are said to be much more like Burmese examples. As regards the skull, any large series will undoubtedly display very considerable variations — some specimens from Northern India even showing, as mentioned more fully below, an approximation towards the gayal type ; but there is at present no decisive evidence that such variations, apart from the approximation to the gayal type, are correlated with locality. Then, again, there is a question in regard to the dewlap, which, although in most cases practically wanting, is stated to be developed in certain individuals of the Travancore herds. Since, however, according to the last statement, it is, at most, only an individual peculiarity, its importance is obviously much less than that of the alleged local differences noted above. The fact that cows and young bulls inhabiting dry and more open districts are less darkly coloured than those from dense and damp forests is an example of a very common feature among animals. In spite of its bulk and heavy build, the gaur is almost as active as a cat in getting over rocky country (which is the ordinary resort of the 48 Great and Small Game of India, etc. species) ; and the manner in which a herd will make their way up an impossible-looking hill-side is little short of marvellous. Although, as already said, generally found on forest-clad hills, gaur are sometimes to be met with on the plains ; and in Mysore and the Wynad district they frequent rocky hills, whose flattened, open summits afford excellent grazing-grounds, the herds ascending to elevations of from 2500 to 6000 feet above sea-level. In the Narbada district the habits and shikar of gaur have been admirably described by Captain Forsyth in his Highlands of Central India, while Mr. G. P. Sanderson, in Thirteen Tears among the Wild Beasts of India, has done the same for the Mysore country. Gaur are seldom seen in herds of more than twenty head, and more frequently in small parties of from five to ten. In the Western Ghats, and doubtless in other districts, they are generally to be found on the open grass-tracts for some hours after the early morning feed, but as the sun increases in power they one by one rise to their feet and seek shelter in the surround- ing forest. When driving is resorted to, the beaters should not be allowed to commence their work till the herd has in this manner betaken itself to covert ; as if driving is attempted while the animals are in the open, failure will almost certainly ensue. Moreover, it is important to ascertain that no stragglers have been left lying down in the open. The alternative to beating is by following up the animals with the aid of native trackers, such as the Bhils and Gonds. Although the finest bulls are completely solitary, a certain number of their sex keep with the herds. In writing of the herds, Mr. Sanderson says that their members " are shy and retiring in their habits, and retreat at once if intruded upon by man. They avoid the vicinity of his dwellings, and never visit the patches of cultivation in the jungle, as do wild elephants, deer, and wild hog. . . . The food of the gaur,^ as of ' In these extracts "Gaur" is substituted for "Bison." The Gaur 49 the wild elephant, consists chiefly of grasses, and only in a secondary degree of bamboo- leaves and twigs, the thick and succulent tuberous shoots of the bamboo which appear during the rains, and of the bark ot some trees. . . . Gaur feed till about nine in the morning, or later in cloudy and rainy weather ; they then rest, lying down in bamboo-covert or light forest till the afternoon, when they rise to graze and drink ; they also invariably lie down for some hours during the night. Although certainly quick in detecting an intruder, gaur can scarcely be considered naturally wary animals, as they seldom encounter alarms. Unsophisticated herds will frequently allow several shots to be flred at them before making off, and even then probably will not go far. But if subjected to frequent disturbance, they quickly become as shy as deer. ... I have never known a case of herd-gaur attacking man, except such individuals as were wounded, and, being pursued, found themselves unable to escape." The narrator then proceeds to state that in many of their habits gaur resemble elephants, and that herds of both may not infrequently be seen feeding together. Solitary bulls, which often show their age by the number of scars they bear on their nearly hairless hides, have a bad reputation for ferocity, being commonly reported to charge without provocation. While admitting that this is to a certain degree the case, Mr. Sanderson accounts for it by their greater liability to being suddenly surprised while reposing than are the members of a herd, some ot whom are always on the watch. And when thus surprised, like other animals, they not uncommonly " go for " the disturber of their slumbers. The following measurements of gaur horns from Northern India are given by Mr. Stuart-Baker, and may prove of interest to sportsmen. In one head the dimensions are : — " Tip to tip round sweep . . . . -75 ii'"--hes. Base of right horn in girth . . . . 2 2^ „ „ left horn . . . . . 2 2§ „ Greatest expanse . . . . ■ 47 " 50 Great and Small Game of India, etc. " Measured ten days after being shot. " Another longer but lighter head measures — Tip to tip round sweep . . 861 inches. Base to tip of right horn - 37 left horn . • 37i . Girth of right horn at base • i9i . „ left „ . . . • i9i . Greatest expanse • 53 " These two represent the stoutest and longest horns, respectively, I have ever seen, and were both shot by myself. " Another very fine head which was killed in a gun trap and brought to me by a Kuki, and is now in the possession of Mr. F. Bott, measures — Tip to tip round sweep . Girth of right horn at base „ left „ Widest expanse about . 74 inches. 2oi „ S6 „ " This was measured dry, and would probably have measured close on 22 inches round the bases of the horns if measured fresh. I have known no head with such a magnificent expanse as this one showed, though one or two have approached it rather closely." The Gayal THE GAYAL, OR MITHAN [Bos fro// talis) Native Names. — Gayal, or perhaps preferably Gaia/, Hindustani ; Mitha/i, Bunerea-gorii, and Gavi or Gabi, Assamese and in Chitta- gong; Sandung, Manipuri ; She I ok Shio of the Kukis ; Jhongmta of the Mughis ; Bui-sang and Riil of the Naga Tribes ; PIni of THE Akas ; Siha of the Daphla Hill Tribes ; Niini and Tsaiiig, Burmese (Plate U. Figs 2, 2a) If it really exist in the wild condition at all — a question in regard to which a certain amount of scepticism is permissible — the gayal is one of the comparatively few animals coming under the designation of big game that have seldom or never been " bagged " by the British sports- man. The only definite record that we have of such a " bag " is the case of an apparently wild gayal shot in Tenasserim by the late Mr. W. Davison, who formerly collected for Mr. A. O. Hume, in whose possession is the skull of this particular animal. But there may be a question whether this gayal was really truly wild, or merely one that had escaped from domestication and taken to a life in the woods. The circumstances that apparently tell most strongly against the former view is that since the specimen in question no other wild gayal has been recorded from Tenasserim, while in every other part of their habitat these cattle are known only in the domesticated condition ; but, on the other hand, it must be remembered that the fauna of the interior of Tenasserim is but very little known, and the gayal may be wild there although domesticated elsewhere. If the gayal be a truly wild animal — whether or no it exists in that 5 2 Great and Small Game of India, etc. condition at the present day — there can be, of course, no question as to its right to be regarded as a distinct species, or race. But if, on the other hand, it is nothing more than a domesticated breed, then it is highly probable that it is merely an artificial derivative from the gaur. And, as already mentioned, certain skulls of the latter are known which exhibit in some degree an approximation towards the gayal type of cranium, but these may be half-breeds. Although a magnificently-built creature, the bull gayal never attains the same dimensions as the gaur, from which it differs by the shorter limbs, the somewhat less elevation of the dorsal ridge, the great develop- ment of the dewlap, and the form of the skull and horns. In place of the arched intercornual ridge and concave frontal profile of the typical gaur, we have in the typical gayal a perfectly straight line on the vertex of the skull between the widely-separated horns, while the entire forehead is flat and of great relative width and shortness. The horns, too, which are mostly of a blackish hue, more or less mingled with yellow, show only a slight curvature, inclining outwards and somewhat upwards, without trace of a terminal inward sweep. In the skull the marked shortness of the nasal bones forms a notable point of distinction from the gaur. As regards colour, the gayal is a distinctly darker animal than its relative, the whole of the upper-parts, with the exception of the forehead, which is frequently tawny, being in both sexes blackish brown ; the legs, from above the knees and hocks downwards, showing the usual white or yellowish " stockings." In the domesticated condition parti-coloured, or even wholly white, gayal are stated to be by no means uncommon. Since the foregoing remarks were penned an important communica- tion on the gaur and gayal, by Mr. E. C. Stuart-Baker, of Kachar, has appeared in the columns of The Asian newspaper of the 20th and 27th of February 1900. This communication is illustrated with numerous figures of skulls of both animals : and since its author has had unrivalled The Gayal 5 3 opportunities for studying them, his conclusions are worthy the best attention of naturahsts and sportsmen. Mr. Stuart-Baker commences his article by stating that he has studied the two animals for upwards of thirteen years. " During the lirst two or three years of this period," he writes, " I held the opinion that they were identical. After this I veered round a good deal, and began to think that the reasons for considering them distinct mio:ht be rio-ht : this because I Fig. 5. — Skull and Horns of a Bull Gayal from Tenasserim. In the Collection of Mr. A. O. Hume. quite failed to obtain certain necessary links between the two forms. The last two or three years, however, have produced specimens which have shown every one of these same links, and I am now forced to the con- clusion that there is no ditFerence of specific value between the two animals, such differences as do exist being principally, if not entirely, the result of domestication." This latter sentence, it may be remarked, is not quite what a scientific naturalist would have written. What is really meant would seem to be that the characters in which the typical gayal differs from the typical gaur 54 Great and Small Game of India, etc. are the results of domestication. Although several of the figures of gaur skulls given are those of immature animals in which the characteristic adult features are not attained, yet there does seem considerable evidence of a transition between the typical cranial forms of the two animals — a transition of which the present writer has already had partial cognisance. Such a transition does not, however, by any means invalidate the features given above as characteristic of the two animals — such features being those of their typical representatives. And it may be added that, so far as the present writer's knowledge goes, it is only in the Kachar and Assam districts that skulls intermediate between the typical gaur and the typical gayal are met with ; the Madras gaur preserving, when fully adult, the distinctive peculiarities of that animal in all cases. Summing up the evidence, it seems that the gayal is not definitely known to exist in a truly wild condition in Northern India, where there is a more or less complete transition in respect of cranial character from the typical gaur to the typical gayal, and that these intermediate speci- mens may be due to crossing. This, how^ever, by no means necessarily leads to the conclusion that wild gayal never existed anywhere. And it is quite possible that Tenasserim may have been their original home, whence they were transported north in a domesticated condition. The difference between typical gaur and typical gayal skulls is so great that it is difficult to believe it can be the result of domestication. Horns of pure-bred gayal measuring 15, 14^, 14, and 1 2f inches in length are on record ; the respective basal circumference of these being III, 13!, 14, and 13I inches, and the tip-to-tip interval of the first, second, and fourth of these specimens being 26f, 28, and 27! inches.^ Some larger measurements are noted below, but it is uncertain whether these are from typical animals. 1 In Wild Oxen, etc. of all Lands, p. 33, the tip-to-tip interval (27!) is inadvertently given as the basal girth (i3|-) of one of these specimens. The Gayal 55 Putting on one side the question whether gayal are ever found in a truly wild state, in a domesticated or semi-domesticated condition these splendid animals are met with among certain tribes both to the north and south of the Assam valley, in the neighbourhood of Manipur and Kachar, as well as in hill Tipperah, Chittagong, and the Lushai hills as far south as Chittagong itself Many, or all, of these domesticated gayal are allowed to run by themselves through the forest, returning to the villages of their owners at nightfall. Horns of cow gayal (Plate II. Fig. 2a) are much more slender than those of the bulls. The following dimensions of tame gayal (or of animals intermediate between typical gaur and typical gayal) are taken from Mr. Stuart-Baker's paper. In one bull the measurements are : — iches. ■ Round sweep from tip to tip Length of right horn ,, left horn Girth of right horn at base „ left Tip to tip of horn, straight . 14 31 " Another bull very similar in general shape to the last measured- Round sweep from tip to tip . . . 48 inches. i7i „ Length of right horn left „ Girth of right horn at base left „ Tip to tip in a straight line " A young bull, which would probably have become in two or three years an abnormally fine specimen, taped — Round sweep from tip to tip . . . 58 inches. Length of right horn . . . . 22 ,, left 56 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Girth of right horn at base . . . I2|- inches. left „ „ ... I2h „ Tip to tip in a straight line . . . 42 ,, " A cow rather above the average measured as follows : — Round sweep . . . • ■ 41 inches. Right horn . . . • . 15 ,, Left horn . . • ■ ■ 16 ,, Girth at base . . . . • loj „ Tip to tip . . . • ■ 25I " The horns first mentioned in these measurements are bigger round the base than any others I have seen and measured, but one which I saw in a Naga village on a sacrificial pile was much stouter as well as longer, and this, I should think, would have measured close on 19 inches round the bases. The Nagas, however, refused to sell it, and I had no tape then to measure it with. I have seen none, so far as I remember, which were purely of the domestic type, with horns as long as those ot the third specimen." THE BURMESE BANTING {Bos sondakiis birmaniciis) Native Names. — Tsaiiig or Hsaiiig, Burmese ; Banting and Sapi-iitan, Malay (Plate II. Fig. 3) The tsaing, or banting (for the name sapi-utan, meaning torest-ox, is applied by the Malays alike to this species and the little anoa of Celebes), is the characteristic wild ox of the Malay countries ; and although belonging to the same group as the gaur and the gayal, it displays some of the dis- tinctive characters of the group in a less marked degree, and thus departs less The BantinQT S7 widely from the common ox. It has, for example, the ridge on the withers much less developed, and not terminating posteriorly in a distinct step ; while the cows, and in the Burmese race the bulls also, are reddish coloured. Perhaps the two most distinctive features of the species are the horny callous shield on the vertex of the head between the bases of the horns, and the large white patch on the buttocks, which surrounds, although it does not include, the root ot the tail. Standing from about 5 feet to at Xs^ Fig. 6. — Freshly killed Head of Bull Burmese Banting, or Tsaing. From a specimen shot by Mr. R. McD. Hawker. least 5 feet 9 inches in height at the withers, the banting is a rather lighter- built animal than the gaur, with a less massive and more elongate form of head. The dewlap is but imperfectly developed, the well-tufted tail descends somewhat below the level of the hocks, and the ears are propor- tionately smaller than in either the gaur or the gayal. Compared with those of the former animal, the horns of the bull banting are comparatively slender and more nearly cylindrical ; the only compression being found at the base of those of fully adult individuals. They are more or less rugged near their origin from the head, but are smooth for the remainder of their 58 Great and Small Game of India, etc. length. At first the direction of their sweep is outwards and somewhat upwards, but towards the tips they take an inward and sHghtly backward curvature. In the dried skull their bases are seen to flange out in a charac- teristic manner. In the cows and young bulls the general colour of the short and sleek hair of the upper-parts is reddish brown, approaching chestnut : the under-parts being much lighter coloured, sometimes even whitish or white, as are the inner surfaces of the ears, the lips, the inner side of the legs, and the rump-patch. The legs, too, in adult cows are white from above the knees and hocks downwards to the hoofs, although in calves their outer sides are chestnut, like the body ; a dark streak also running down the middle of the back. Except in the case when the rump-patch is wanting, the general distribution of colour is the same in adult bulls as in full-grown cows, but the tint of the upper-parts may be of almost any shade between dark reddish brown and blackish brown. The typical representative of the banting is an inhabitant of Java, but an identical or nearly allied form is met with in Bali, Borneo, probably Sumatra, and perhaps the Malay Peninsula ; the adult bulls of this typical race having the dark area of the upper-parts blackish brown or even black, and the forehead and face coloured like the back. Not so the Burmese banting, in which the general colour of the upper-parts in the adult bull is described (for the British Museum has no complete wild specimen of this race) as dark chestnut, appearing darker in some lights than in others, and shading off into light brown below. The face, as exemplified by a mounted head in the British Museum, is tawny grey, with a light chestnut patch some distance above the muzzle ; the margin of the lips and the inner surface of the ears being whitish, and the muzzle blackish. The head of a bull shot by Mr. Bruce in Upper Burma is very similar in colour to the Museum specimen, but more uniformly tawny. With the exception that the upper part of the fore- legs is darkish grey, the rest of the coloration is similar to that of the typical The Banting 59 race. Young bulls, in which the white markings are less distinct, are lighter and brighter in colour. At all ages the cows are of a bright reddish chestnut, with the face somewhat paler than the back, especially on the forehead, round the eyes, and near the muzzle, where, like the under-parts and the lower portion of the legs, it becomes dirty white. The specimens of which the height has been recorded do not run so large as the typical Malay race, a bull standing 5 feet 4^, inches, and a cow 5 feet I inch at the withers. In the notes quoted below it will be seen that there are considerable variations from the above type of coloration, but in no instances are the bulls described as being black. The Burmese variety of the banting is found in Burma, Pegu, and Arakan, whence it may perhaps extend southwards to the Malay Peninsula, and northwards to the hill-ranges east of Chittagong. Banting also occur in Manipur, but these, as mentioned below, may belong to another race of the animal. For accounts of the Burmese banting we are chiefly indebted to Captain Evans, and Mr. C. W. A. Bruce, who wrote in The Asian newspaper of loth October 1899 under the initials C. W. A. B. The latter writer observes that the Burmese distinguish three varieties of tsaing, viz. — " [a) The common light red bulls and chestnut cows called by them Hsaing Bya. " [h) Dark chocolate bulls and cows darker chestnut than in variety {ci) ; Hsaing Nyo of the Burmans ; sometimes this variety is spoken of as Hsaing Mwe. " (r) Dark-faced bulls with red bodies, Hsaing Ni of the Burmans. I have shot bulls of all three varieties, and the differences are well marked, especially so in the case of the hsaing nyo, which, except in shape and in the position of the white markings, might be another species altogether. " All three varieties inhabit the same kind of jungle and may be found in the same forest, but I have never seen herds containing two ot the above 6o Great and Small Game of India, etc. varieties in the same herd. All herds I have seen have consisted of individuals of one variety only." Since all these so-called varieties occur in the same area they cannot be regarded as local races, although the alleged differences in the colour of the different herds is certainly very remarkable. In all parts of its habitat the banting frequents less hilly ground than the gaur, and is more often found in grass-jungles, or grass-jungles with scattered trees, than in thick forest. The following notes on the habits of the Burmese banting are abbreviated from the excellent account given by Mr. Bruce. " During the hot weather," he writes, " these animals wander about the plains of Engdaing forest, consisting mainly of the In-tree {Dipterocarpus tuber culatus). This tree is gregarious and usually has an undergrowth of coarse grass, ' Thekai ' {Imperata cyl'mdricd), ox ' Kaing ' [Saccharu/n sp). All engdaing forests are broken up by open expanses devoid of tree-growth, but covered with thekai grass. Such places are known to the Burmese as ' Kwins ' ; depressions between plateaux in the engdaing devoid of tree-growth also occur. These are usually covered with kaing grass. In April the grass, as a rule, gets burnt off^ by forest fires, and it is to eat the tender young shoots of the new growth of the two varieties of grasses that the hsaing frequent the plains, though they are also found in these places at other times of the year, particularly in the cold weather. They also eat leaves, shoots of bamboos, and fruits of trees, but they prefer grass. In the hot weather this engdaing forest is a sure find for hsaing. They occasionally go into the foot-hills, if there are any adjoining, to sleep during the day, descending again about 4.30 p.m., and returning at about 9 a.m. But I have found hsaing feeding in the middle of the day in the very height of the hot weather, and also found them sleeping in the engdaing, under the very sparse shade of a big in-tree. I have never found hsaing go high up into hills, and doubt if they ever go much above 2000 feet above sea-level. The Banting 6i In the rains, when the new bamboo-shoots are sprouting, they leave the engdaing entirely, and frequent bamboo -forest to feed, like many other animals in Burma, on these shoots. They, I think, feed mostly at night, but also at intervals throughout the day, and don't seem to mind heat at all. They undoubtedly drink, and are very fond of frequenting salt-licks, and also licks of a peculiar light grey earth [inyehnan), the ' smelling- earth ' of the Burmans. This earth is found usually in the banks of dry nalas in the engdaing, and the hsaing scrape deep holes in it with their tongues. Bulls, especially solitary ones, are very fond of butting down young trees along the path they may be travelling, and the strength exerted to break some of these must be considerable. I have never heard a hsaing calling like gaur do, and the Burmans say they do not make any sound, except the snort of alarm or warning. This is very similar to that made by the gaur, but, instead of being double, is only a single snort ; on alarming a herd one often hears more than one snort, but after careful observation, I am inclined to think these are made by different individuals. The snort is more prolonged than the gaur's. I once came across a young hsaing asleep in a patch of unburnt grass in engdaing jungle ; it bolted off" in the direction which the numerous footsteps indicated that a herd had travelled. This was in May, and I fancy the animal was very young, and had been hidden by the mother while the herd went on grazing. All, or rather nearly all, herds I have found in April and May have young calves with them, so I presume that the young are born at the end ot the cold and beginning of the hot weather. The sense of smell in hsaing is very keen ; I should place hearing as second, and sight a bad third, as I have often suddenly seen hsaing, and noticed them looking at me, but on my standing perfectly still they have either gone on grazing or moved slowly away ; this was always when the wind was favourable. Solitary bulls are more wary than herds, and on being disturbed usually dash straight oft and travel considerable distances. Herds, however, snort on being alarmed. 62 Great and Small Game of India, etc. dash off for loo yards or so, and then stop for a few seconds to look round. I have often bagged a bull by directly hearing the snort. Running hard in the direction taken by the herd, the bull generally brings up the rear and acts as whipper-in of the flying animals. If a herd is followed, my experience is that one can always come up with them within two hours at the most. I have fired twice within twenty minutes at the same herd, and once I came up with the same herd four times in the same day, though I did not bag the bull. I do not think them particularly dangerous ; I have never been charged by one, and Burmans show less fear of hsaing, wounded or unwounded, than they do of his cousin the gaur. But they tell blood-curdling yarns of charging hsaing in ' Burma min letet,' i.e. the king's time ; but then, as they used muzzle- loaders that necessitated crawling up to within a few yards of the animal, no wonder they got frequently knocked over. I have only twice seen a hsaing bull prepare to charge, and each time, as the ground was open, I was able to stop such intentions. The last time, as I had an 8-bore, I waited till the last minute to see what he really meant, and I certainly think he had made up his mind to try close quarters. Anyway my men thought so, as they all hastily clambered up trees ; and as the hsaing, a iine herd-bull, suddenly turned round (he was running away), faced us, held his head well up, started shaking it and stamping the ground with one foot, I didn't wait any longer. " The Burmans say that if one lies down flat, one is safe from a charging gaur, as he can't dig you with his horns and won't tread on you, but you are not safe in the same position from a hsaing. The horns of a hsaing bull come out at right angles to his face, whereas those of a gaur are in the same line as his face, more or less. " Hsaing, as regards the number in a herd, vary considerably. I have met two females and one calf all alone, as well as solitary bulls, but the usual thing is to find a herd of, say, seven to twelve cows, a few calves. The Banting 63 with one bull. The smallest herd I have seen consisted of a bull, two cows and one calf; while the biggest herd seen consisted of about twenty cows, numerous calves and one magnificent bull, but there may have been more. I, however, never got a shot, as the animals all saw me before I saw them ; they dashed off, and, as it was evening, there was no hope of coming up with them before dark. The track is more heart-shaped and pointed than that of the gaur, and also differs in size." As already mentioned, banting occur in the Manipur district, especially in the Kubbu valley between Manipur and Northern Burma ; and there is a considerable degree of probability that these banting are sub-specifically distinct from the Burmese animal. But, unfortunately, there are no specimens at present in our Museums ; and it is not a commendable practice to give names to animals of which examples are not available for future reference and comparison. For what we know of the Manipur banting, we are indebted to the observations of Surgeon -Captain H. S. Wood, who says that the bulls stand about 5 feet at the shoulder, and are red at all ages, while they show no white patch on the buttocks, although this conspicuous mark is fully developed in the cows. The bulls have comparatively small ears ; and their general colour is dark red, passing into greyish white on the face, the under surface of the body, and the inside of the legs. They have no dark streak running down the back ; the front ot the fore-legs above the knee is reddish black ; the tip and front margin of the ears is deep velvety black ; the eye is encircled with a greyish-white ring, while the front and sides of the upper part of the head are tawny white, the naked muzzle being greyish black. In the cows the ears are larger, and the general colour of the upper- parts light red, with a dark streak running down the middle of the back, but no black on the ears or the front of the fore-legs. The under surface of the body, the legs from the knees and hocks to the hoofs, and the rump -patch are 64 Great and Small Game of India, etc. pure white. A cow measured by Captain Wood stood 4 feet 10 inches at the withers. If the alleged absence of the white rump-patch be a constant feature in the bulls, and the presence of a dark dorsal streak an equally- distinctive feature of the cows, there would seem little doubt as to the racial distinctness of the Manipur representative of the banting. Skins of both sexes of the Burmese and the Manipuri banting are, however, urgently needed ; and until these are available the distinctive features and the range of colour-variation in either cannot possibly be properly determined. THE YAK (^Bos gi-i/nfiiens) Native Names. — Dofig, Brong-dong (wild race), Pegu (domesticated breed), Tibetan; Yai^ Ladaki and in North Kumaon ; Ban - c hoar, Hindustani; Kuch-gai/, Punjabi; Baku (old bull) and Kotass, Kirghiz (Plate II. Figs. 4, ^a) By the older naturalists the yak, or wild ox of Tibet, was almost invariably spoken of as the grunting ox ; and so far as the domesticated breeds (from which the original description was taken) are concerned, the attribute in question is very distinctive of the animal. Accord- ing, however, to the accounts of modern naturalists and travellers, the " grunting " practice is strictly confined to the domesticated breeds, the wild yak uttering no such sound. It has, therefore, been proposed to regard the latter as a distinct species, under the name of mut//s ; but this seems a quite unnecessary refinement in nomenclature, and the most that would be justifiable in this direction would be to designate the The Yak 65 wild race as Bos gri/iiiiieiis mutiis. It is true that such a combination of names would involve a contradiction ; but such little inconsistencies are not regarded as matters ot any importance by modern naturalists. By sportsmen the Tibetan wild ox is almost invariably spoken of by one or other of its native names ; and so far, so good. But if they were determined, as they are, to use the name bison for any of the wild Fig. 7 — Parti-coloured and WIhil D micstR Utd \ ik 111 the Ptrk u Uomim Ibbt^ From a photogriph b'\ tht DiRliLbb of Bedford cattle of India and the neighbouring countries, it should have been to the yak instead of to the gaur that this term should have been applied. For, as a matter of fact, the yak appears to be very closely allied indeed to the bisons, of which group it is best regarded as an aberrant member specially modified by its long isolation and the high elevation at which it lives. How great is the elevation above the sea-level at which this animal ordinarily dwells in the wild state is probably but very imperfectly 66 Great and Small Game of India, etc. realised by the great majority of persons ; and it may perhaps assist the imagination to state that if the Tibetan plateau were at the summit of a cliff rising sheer up from the sea-shore, a yak looking over the edge of the cliif would be about four miles above the level of the sea ! Apart from certain features in the skull and the setting-on of the horns, to say nothing of the form of the latter, the yak approximates to the bisons in the long hair with which portions of its body are clothed, and also in possessing fourteen pairs of ribs, instead of the thirteen found in the gaur and its allies ; the bisons having fifteen pairs. The long hair is, however, still more elongated than in the bisons, and also differently disposed on the body ; while the enormous mass of bushy hair clothing the lower half of the tail at once serves to differentiate the yak from all its kindred. In general build the wild bull yak is a massive, not to say a clumsy- looking animal ; attaining to a height of at least 5^ feet at the withers, and, according to the reports of some sportsmen, falling but little, if at all, below 6 feet in exceptionally fine examples. The head is generally carried low, thus tending to accentuate the elevation of the withers, which form a more or less conspicuous hump, behind which the back is fairly level, without any decided falling away at the rump. The muzzle and ears are comparatively small, there is no dewlap, and the short and stout limbs terminate in large and massive hoofs. Very characteristic of the bull yak are its long, massive, and gracefully-curved black horns, which form some of the finest trophies of which the Indian sportsman can boast. Although very slightly compressed at the base in aged bulls, yak horns are nearly cylindrical in section and smooth throughout their length ; their curvature is at first upwards and outwards, then forwards, and finally inwards and upwards, with a slightly backward inclination in some examples. Cow horns (Plate II. Fig. /\.a) are much more slender than those of the bulls. The longest yak horns on record The Yak 67 are a pair in the Museum at Lucknow, which are stated to measure 39 inches along the curve ; their other dimensions being unknown. Next to these are a pair measuring 38I inches in length, 17 in girth, and 19 between the tips. The lengths of other line examples are respectively 35h 34. 32I, 32, 31I' 31. and 30! inches. To return to the general description of the animal, the hair on the Fig. 8. — Skull and Horns of Bull Yak. From a specimen in the British IVIuscam. head, back, and upper portion of the sides is comparatively short and smooth, but on the lower part of the flanks is elongated to form a pendent fringe extending across the shoulders and thighs ; there is likewise a tuft of elongated hair on the front of the chest, and the lower half of the tail is enveloped in a huge bunch of still longer hair, reaching somewhat below the hocks. In wild yak the coat is uniformly blackish brown throughout, although showing a little white in the region of the muzzle, 68 Great and Small Game of India, etc. with a sprinkling of grey on the head and face in old animals, and tending to rusty on the back in aged bulls. The semi-domesticated yak of the elevated plateau of Rupshu, which, as the present writer can testify from personal experience, are " kittle cattle " to deal with, are very large, and generally, if not always, as dark-coloured as their wild kindred. But in most parts of Ladak and the Tibetan districts of the Himalaya the domesti- cated breed is much smaller, and may be of any colour from black to white. In such breeds, too, which may have a strain of the Indian humped cattle in their blood, the cows (as shown in the photograph of the herd at Woburn Abbey) may be devoid of horns. It is from the tails of such parti-coloured or white yak that the white fly-whisks, or chaories, so much in vogue in the plains of India, are made. Pure-bred domesticated yak have two great disabilities — they will neither eat corn nor cross a bridge. Wild yak are restricted to the plateau of Tibet, ranging from the eastern part of Ladak as far as Kansu, in North-West China, and extending northwards as far as the chain of the Kuen-Lun. In summer they are found at elevations between about 14,000 and 20,000 teet, and even in winter it is probable that, in Ladak at least, they seldom, if ever, descend much below i 3,000 feet. So far as the writer is aware, wild yak have never been brought into Leh (11,500 feet), and it is most probable that they could not exist at levels much below this. The parti-coloured domesticated breeds, as well as the small black yak frequently brought into Darjiling, will, however, thrive, under suitable conditions, at the sea-level. In Ladak the great district for yak is the Chang-chenmo valley, and the dreary regions between this and the Upper Indus ; but these animals are yearly becoming scarcer within the territories under the rule of the Maharaja of Kashmir, although reported to be numerous in Tibet proper. One of the earliest British sportsmen in the Chang-chenmo district was General A. A. Kinloch, who has given an excellent account of the habits of wild yak. The second largest head in Mr. Rowland Ward's list The Yak 69 belonged to an animal shot in the Kuen-Lun range by the late Mr. A. Dalgleish, who during the seventies was in the employ of the Central Asian Trading Company. More recently yak have been shot by Mr. St. George Littledale in Tibet, and by Messrs. H. Z. Darrah and P. H. G. Powell- Cotton ; the mounted specimen now exhibited in the British Museum being one of several that fell to the rifle of the gentleman last named. An interesting account of yak-shooting, by Mr. Edgar Phelps, will be found in vol. xiii. of the 'Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (1900). Yak feed chiefly upon the tufts of wiry grass dotted over the arid soil of the Tibetan plateau, and grow fat upon such apparently insufficient fodder. In search of food, or merely from a roving disposition, they are in the habit of traversing long distances, and feed mostly during the early morning and evening, reposing in the daytime on some bleak hill- side, where they can receive timely warning of the approach of danger. As in the case of other cattle, the old bulls are either solitary or associate in small parties of three or four ; while the herds, which in undisturbed districts may include from about half-a-score to a hundred head, are formed by the cows, young bulls, and calves. In lieu of water, which is essential to their existence, yak will eat snow during the winter, or at very high altitudes at all seasons. Smell seems to be their most acute sense, hearing and sight being apparently less keenly developed. For yak-shooting Mr. Darrah used the Lee-Metford rifle. He gives the following account of a stalk : — " Lying flat down, and pushing the Lee-Metford in front of me, I got behind a stone on the summit, and saw a large number of yaks in front of me, most of them some 250 to 350 yards off. It was easy enough to make out the principal bull of the herd, he was so much larger than the rest, but I could not distinguish any others of a decent size, though I saw two or three small ones. I lay where I was for some ten minutes, trying to make out which to fire at after the 70 Great and Small Game of India, etc. first shot at the big bull, but could not come to any satisfactory conclusion. The animals were entirely unconscious of danger ; some were lying down chewing the cud, and some feeding quietly about. The big bull was sometimes grazing, sometimes looking about him, but all the time moving more or less to the west, that is, to my right and up the nala. I did not like risking a shot at the distance he was off, and examined the ground to my right to see if there was any chance of getting nearer." -- — W^"^'" __ ^ 1 _4jfcsi- 1 ^ j^ w^ ^ ii It w Duchess Ml idtord. )graph by the An opportunity for gaining a more favourable situation presenting itself, the big bull was crippled at the first shot, and soon afterwards dispatched. From the fact of his being with the herd it would seem that this stalk, which took place in August, was during the pairing-season. Mr. Darrah gives the length of the horns of this bull as just over 29 inches, with a girth of 1 3 inches ; but in Mr. Ward's list the length is entered as 30 inches. Great & Small Game of India &c., Plati Fiibayhai bj?.t7Kland Vfardl PLATE II Irt. Gaur. 3- Burmese Banting, or Tsaing. za. Gayal. 4. 4"- ^ak. 5, 5^. Indian Buffalo. The Indian Buffalo 71 THE ARNA, OR INDIAN BUFFALO [Bos biibalis) Native Names. — Arna (bull), Ami (cow), or, more commonly, Arna bhahua and JungH bhains (bhains being the name of the domesticated buffalo), Hindustani ; Ma?ig in Bhagalpur ; Mains^ Bengali ; Bir- biar of the Ho-kols ; Gera eriimi of the Gonds ; Mi Harak, Cingalese ; Mo/?, Assamese ; Siloi of the Kukis ; Giibiii, Ri/i, Ziz, and Le OF the Nagas ; Misip, Kachari ; Iroi, Manipuri ; Kywai, Burmese ; Pa/m of the Karens ; Karbo or Karabii^ Malay (Plate II. Figs. 5, 5^/) Those who have seen the domesticated buffi;ilo of Italy, Egypt, and India are acquainted with a degenerate descendant of the magnificent Indian wild buffalo, whose spread of horn exceeds that of any existing member of the Bovida. The wild animal itself is, however, known to few besides sportsmen ; since only two examples of the Indian buffalo have been exhibited in the London Zoological Gardens, one of which was lent in 1870, while the second (a cow) was presented by the Maharaja of Bhaonagar in 1893. Whether the former was a truly wild animal, the writer has no means of knowing. A iine bull, tit tor mounting, is one of the desiderata of the British Museum. Fortunately, however, the national collection contains the tinest pair of horns on record ; the length along the outer curve of one horn being 'j']'-^ and the basal girth 17I inches. All buffaloes differ from the other members of the genus Bos by the distinctly triangular section of their horns, as well as by the rounded form of the hinder part of the skull, and likewise by the sparsely haired skin, which may indeed be well-nigh naked in very aged individuals. By 72 Great and Small Game of India, etc. the present writer such points of distinction are regarded as of subgeneric value only, so that the full name of the Indian species would be Bos {Bubaliis) hiibalis ; but to some it appears preferable to regard Biibalus (as also Bisoii) in the light of a genus by itself. From its very distant cousin the African buffalo, the Indian, or, as it might perhaps be better termed, the Asiatic buffalo is at once dis- tinguished by the form of the horns and the wide space by which these are separated at their bases from one another on the forehead in both sexes, as well as by the much greater length of the head, and the narrower and less densely haired ears. The profile of the head is nearly straight, and the convexity of the forehead moderate. The horns, of which male and female specimens are shown in the plate, are entirely black in colour, and curve almost in the same plane ; those of bulls being much more massive than those of cows. As regards curvature, two distinct and well-marked types are recognisable. In the one, the horns curve regularly upwards from each side of the head in a semicircular manner, so as to be separated by a comparatively small interval at the tips (Plate II. Fig. 5). In the other type (of which the pair represented in Fig. 5*^? of the plate are a medium, not an extreme example), they spread almost directly outwards for the greater portion of their length, after which they curve somewhat upwards and inwards, the interval between their tips being consequently much greater than in the first type. It is commonly asserted that horns of the first type are those of bulls, while those of the second type pertain to cows. This is, however, disproved by a photograph of a series of horns of both sexes shot by H.H. the Maharaja of Kuch Behar, and herewith re- produced. In this series all the horns are of the first, or circular type ; those of the cows being readily distinguishable from those of bulls by their inferior girth. Again, the enormous pair of detached horns in the British Museum, one of which measures ^"j^ inches in length, although of the straight type, are so massive as to be almost certainly referable to a male. The Indian Buffalo 73 And the same is the case with a slightly smaller pair of the same type, from Assam, also preserved in the Museum. The long slender straight horns frequently obtained from Assam are evidently the female of this type. From the evidence ot the Maharaja's specimens, it would appear that in Kuch Behar all the buffaloes have horns of the circular type. And since horns of the straight type are known to occur in some parts of Assam, it would seem highly probable that there may be two local races of the species, distinguished by the form of the horns. In Mr. Rowland Ward's list the longest horns of which the sex is definitely known are those of a cow, measuring 70^ inches ; 63 inches being the longest record for a bull. Among the specimens in the same list of over 54 inches, the minimum tip-to-tip is 22, and the maximum loi inches ; the specimen with the former measurement belonging to a bull, while the second, which is in the possession of Mr. Walter Rothschild, probably pertains to a cow. As already mentioned, the ears of the Indian buffalo are relatively small and of a somewhat tubular form, with only a small amount of long hairs on their margins, although with a variable quantity in the interior. The tail, which terminates in a small tuft, reaches down about to the level of the hocks. Although aged animals are well-nigh nude, younger individuals have a certain amount of coarse, bristly hair all over the head and body ; and it is noteworthy that, unlike the African buffalo, this hair is directed forwards from the haunches to the back of the head ; a whorl on the hind- quarters marking the point at which the hair of this region commences to be directed backwards. In the typical race (now alone under consideration) the colour ot the skin and hair is ashy or blackish grey, although there may be a more or less pronounced tendency to the development of dirty white on the lower part of the legs ; this being especially noticeable in the domesticated breed. In height it is probable that the very largest adult bulls do not fall much, if at all, short of 6^ feet at the withers ; 74 Great and Small Game of India, etc. although at present the maximum measurement on record appears to be 6 feet zh inches (18-^ hands). The dense grass-jungles covering the alluvial flats of the Ganges and Bramaputra, from Eastern Assam to Tirhut, form some of the most favoured haunts of the wild Indian buffalo. But the animal is also to be met with in many other parts of the peninsula, as, for instance, on the maritime plains of Orissa and Midnapur, as well as on the grass-lands of the eastern portions of the Central Provinces, especially in Mandla, Raipur, Sambulpur, and Bastar, whence it extends at least as far south as the Godaveri and Pranhita valleys. Wild buffaloes are also to be found in the northern districts of Ceylon ; as they likewise are in Burma and the Malay countries. Whether, however, these Burmese and Malay buffaloes are aboriginally wild is a matter by no means easy to determine. The arna (to use a term properly restricted to the male as applicable to both sexes) is very similar in its mode of life to the Indian rhinoceros, being essentially a grazing animal, inhabiting by preference tall grass-jungles, or reed-brakes, in which it is completely concealed, avoiding hills and rocks, and always seeking the neighbour- hood of marshy swamps, in the warm mud of which it delights to wallow. Buffaloes are indeed the most water-loving of all cattle, frequently immersing the whole body, and leaving only the head exposed, instead of standing midleg-deep after the fashion of European cattle. Never (save for its magnificent horns) a handsome creature, the Indian buffalo looks positively hideous when a thick coat of brown mud has dried on its hide after a bath in a j/ii7, or swamp. Associating in large herds, buffalo feed during the early morning and again at evening, while they pass the greater portion of the day in repose, either quietly chewing the cud or sleeping. When disturbed during his mid-day siesta, an old bull is much more likely to prove an awkward customer than ^6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. is one stalked during its feeding hours. In place of their usual haunts, buffalo may occasionally be encountered amid low scrub-jungle, but are seldom if ever seen in tree-forest. The pairing-season is in the autumn, and the calves (of which there are not unfrequently two at a birth) are born in the summer, the period of gestation being ten months. Buffalo may be hunted either by beating with a line of elephants, by tracking on a single elephant, or by walking them up on toot ; the hot season, in April and June, being the best for the latter description of sport, as the long grass is then dried and broken, or burnt down ; while, as water is scarce, the animals are obliged to resort to such pools as remain, where their fresh tracks should be carefully looked for by the sportsman. A foot- print measures about 7 inches in length. Buffalo have been known to charge even before being wounded ; and when they do charge, wounded or unwounded, they generally press the attack home. The way in which a buffalo charges an elephant is well described in Ball's Jungle Life in India. " Having fired or dropped all my ' express ' cartridges," writes the narrator, " I fell back upon my old muzzle-loading 12-bore rifle, and then advanced ; whereupon the calf ran out, being soon followed by the cow, in full charge at the elephant. Anarkalli (the elephant), not liking the aspect of things, trumpeted and turned tail, and put on a pace which fairly astonished me. All this time I had no little difficulty in keeping myself and four guns on the pad. However, as the buffalo came on I fired the heavy rifle at her with one hand, while I held on with the other. The bullet hit on the horn just as she was making a vigorous butt at Anarkalli's stern quarters. She then returned to her lair, and quite disappeared from sight by lying down. With some difficulty the mahout got the elephant back again ; but as she was very nervous, I got off the pad into the branches of a tree. Presently the cow stood up, and I then gave her a shot behind the ear which immediately dropped her dead. In all she had received seven bullets, one of the ' express ' balls having, strange to say, broken one of her Assam Buffalo — Marco Polo's Sheep 77 hind-legs high up near its insertion with the pelvis. In spite of this she had run a long distance, and made the gallant charge I have described." THE UPPER ASSAM BUFFALO [Bos bubalis fiihms) The head of a wild buffalo from Upper Assam which was mounted in the Indian Museum during the present writer's residence in Calcutta differs from the ordinary form by the uniformly dun-coloured hair;^ the skull being also distinguished by the relative shortness ot the face. On account of these differences the wild buffalo of Upper Assam seems well entitled to rank as a distinct race of the species ; but additional specimens would be most acceptable to naturalists. MARCO POLO'S SHEEP [Ovis poll) Native Names. — Ki/chkar (male), Mesh (female), Wakhan ; Kidja or Gii/ja (male), Arka?- (female), Turki of Eastern or Chinese Turkestan (Plate III. Figs, i, la) Although exceeded in massiveness by those of the argali, the horns of Marco Polo's sheep are longer than those of any other species of the genus Ovis, and thus perhaps form the most magnificent trophies yielded by the wild sheep. Since every sportsman knows the distinctive features of sheep, it will on this occasion be unnecessary to consider them in any detail. Apart from their horns, sheep differ markedly from the oxen in the form 1 In Ml/,/ Oxen, etc. of a// Lfljids, p. 126, the word "dun" is unfortunately misprinted "dull," 78 Great and Small Game of India, etc. and structure of the muzzle, which is narrow and pointed, with the skin covered with fine velvety hairs, save for a small naked area immediately above the nostrils, and a narrow groove or cleft extending downwards from the same to divide the upper lip. In place of the two pairs found in the ox tribe, the ewes possess but a single pair of teats ; and glands are developed on the face below the eyes in most, as well as others between the hoofs in all, species ; both such glands being wanting in the oxen. In all the Asiatic members of the group the tail is quite short ; and in none of the species is there a dewlap or a beard on the chin ; while in none do the males exhale a strong, unpleasant odour. All the species inhabiting India and Central Asia have horns in both sexes ; but whereas those of the rams are large and spreading, in the ewes these appendages are small, slender, and more upright. The horns of the rams, at first starting, are directed obliquely outwards from the sides of the head, and then usually form a circular or spiral curve, with the upper border at first convex, and the tips pointing outwards. In section the horns are generally more or less triangular, while the surface is usually marked by fine parallel transverse wrinkles, separated by grooves ; and at intervals there occur lines of division marking the annual growths. Except in the bharal, the colour of the horns in the Eastern Asiatic species is some shade of yellowish olive or brown. In all wild species the hair is short, dense, stiff, and upright, quite unlike the wool of the European domesticated breeds, and is frequently elongated into a ruff on the throat. An important point of distinction from the oxen is to be found in the characters of the upper cheek-teeth, which have tall and narrow (instead of broad) crowns. Coming to the special character of Marco Polo's sheep, we find that this animal is probably slightly inferior in height to the argali (described next), and of perhaps somewhat slighter build, while the horns of the rams are thinner and frequently longer. In the fully adult ram these are long and slender, forming more than one complete circle ; typically the front Marco Polo's Sheep 79 angles of the horn are prominently developed, and the wrinkles on the front surface are placed relatively far apart, while those on the lateral surfaces are often but very indistinctly shown. In the summer coat, which appears to be rather longer than in the argali, the general colour of the upper-parts of old rams is light speckled brown ; the greater portion or the whole of the face, as well as the throat, the chest, the under-parts, the buttocks, and the legs are white ; the white also extending on to the outer surface of Fig. II. — Head ot Ram of Marco Polo's Sheep, with horns measuring 59 inches ak)ng the curve. In the possession of Mr. David T. Hanbury. the thighs. A black streak runs from the nape of the neck to the withers. No distinct ruff of long hairs is developed on the throat in the summer coat ; but in winter, when the whole coat is considerably longer, such a ruff— ^pure white in colour — makes its appearance on the throat and chest. At this season, too, the fur on the back shows a more decided rufescent tinge, especially towards the boundary dividing the dark from the light areas. In the ewes during winter the neck is brown in front, and there may be a dark line extending from the head to the root of the tail, this 8o Great and Small Game of India, etc. streak being absent in summer. The horns of ewes (Plate III. Fig. la) appear to be more upright, deeper, and more sharply keeled in front than in the argali ; but there may be a considerable amount of individual variation in this respect. A mounted male specimen of Ov/s poll in the British Museum stands 3 feet 5 inches at the shoulder ; and the weight of an adult ram is estimated at 22 stone. The four finest specimens of the horns on record respectively measure 75, 73, 71, and 70 inches along the front outer angle ; their respective basal girths being 16, 15, 15^, and 17 inches, and the tip-to-tip intervals 54^, 48, 53!, and 52 inches. This magnificent wild sheep has an extensive range in Central Asia, the details of which are given in the present writer's work entitled Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats of All Lands. It only enters the area treated of in the present volume in the plateau north of Hunza, a district on the southern flanks of the Karakorum or Mastag range, situated to the north-west of Gilgit. It is commonly found at elevations between 10,000 and 18,000 feet above the sea-level. If the sportsman be not inconvenienced by living at such a height, he will find Ovis poll stalking much less fatiguing work than is the pursuit of markhor and ibex in the middle Himalaya ; the reason being that the great sheep dwells on the top of the Central Asian plateau, where the country has not been cut up by the action of rivers and glaciers into the deep gorges and precipitous cliffs characteristic of the middle ranges of the Himalaya. The ground may, in fact, be described as partaking more of the nature of a rolling plain than of precipitous mountains, and difficult places are but seldom encountered. Nevertheless, although the sheep themselves are not excessively wary, stalking is by no means an altogether easy matter, owing to the open nature of the country, so that it is seldom that the sportsman can get to closer quarters with his quarry than a distance of between two and three hundred Marco Polo's Sheep 8i yards. Moreover, it must not be supposed that Ovis poll invariably restricts itself to open, rolling country, any more than does its cousin, Ovis amnion hodgsoni ; both animals crossing rugged hills in their wander- ings from one feeding ground to another, or in retiring to places of safety. An example of the precipitous country to which O. poll will sometimes betake itself is aflforded by the photograph of a living specimen in Mr. R. P. Cobbold's Innermost Asia, where the animal is shown standing on the face of a cliff which would try the climbing powers of an ibex. The general habits of this magnificent species appear to be similar to those of other wild sheep, the large flocks in which it collects being composed of ewes of all ages and young males, and the old rams going about by themselves in small parties of from two or three to eight or ten, and occasionally more. In summer the parties of old males keep to the highest accessible ground ; but in winter, when many perish from starvation, they seek lower levels. It is not, however, from shortness of food alone that their numbers are diminished, for in the winter of 1897-98 rinderpest raged among the flocks on the Pamirs to such an extent that in certain districts almost a clean sweep was made of them. The enormous weight of their horns causes the old rams when galloping to keep their heads nearly erect, instead of stretched out ; and from the length of these appendages old rams cannot touch the ground with any part of the head except the muzzle. When running at top speed at high elevations, they frequently show signs of shortness of wind by opening their mouths ; up hill they never go at a great pace, and are then always compelled to halt from time to time to get their breath. As a rule they try to avoid snow-fields, and always display great care in steering clear of drifts and snow-filled gullies. They graze during the early morning, after which they spend most of the day in repose, feeding again about three or four in the afternoon. This, however, is in summer, and in the brief winter 82 Great and Small Game of India, etc. day their niid-ilav iKuirs of repose are probably shortened. On the way to and from tlie grazing-grounds the old rams frequently butt at one another after the manner of their domesticated relatives ; and on such occasions the sound of their horns clashing together is audible at a great distance. A low kind of grunt is uttered during these playful combats. When danger threatens, these sheep stare at the intruder and stamp with their fore-feet before taking to flight, in precisely the same manner as the domesticated breeds. For Ov/s poll shooting Mr. R. P. Cobbold, who was very successful in this sport, tells us in Inneniiost Asia that, according to his own experience, tliere is no rifle equal to the -256 Mannlicher, whose supremacy over other small weapons has been so generally admitted. Littlcdale's sheep [Ovis saircnsis)^ which is a darker and smaller animal, with a white rump-patch in winter but none in summer, and horns somewliat intermediate between those of po/i and ammon^ is found much north (the Saiar Mountains) of the area treated of in this volume. THE TIBETAN ARGALI {Ovis a 111 moil hoJgsoiii) Native N.ames. — Nyan (male), Nyanmo (female), Ladaki ; Nyci//g, NyafiiJ, and Hyan, Tibetan (Plate III. Figs. 2, 2a) Altliough frequently regarded as representing a species by itself, the nyan of Ladak comes so close to the typical Ovis ammon of the Altai, that it may well be classed merely as a local race of the latter. The males of this fine species (that is to say, of the argali in its widest sense) appear to be the largest oi all wild sheep, and are Great &c Sma^l Game of India &cc., Plate m. \ PuiUshed, by R^wUu^ Woj^d, Ltd . PLATE III irt. Marco Polo's Sheep. 3. Sha. la. Tibetan Argali. ^, ^a. Urial, 5, 5^. Bharal. The Tibetan Argali 83 characterised by the massiveness of their horns, in which the basal girth is very large, and both the front and lateral surfaces are very broad. Very generally both the inner and outer front angles of the horns are rounded off in the basal portion of their length, and the transverse wrinkles are numerous and closely approximated, with the intervening grooves deep, and strongly developed on both the front and the lateral surfaces. As regards their curvature, the horns form a spiral varying from somewhat less to considerably more than a complete circle. In the ewes (Plate III. Fig. za) the horns are much smaller and more erect, with a backwards and outwards curvature, and becoming thin and strap-like towards the extremities. In winter the hair is comparatively long, close, and coarse ; but in summer, and more especially in aged rams, it is exceedingly short and thin, almost recalling that ot a closely -clipped horse. There may be an abundant ruff of long white hair on the throat. On the upper-parts the general colour in the rams varies from wood-brown in winter to a kind of speckled whitey brown in summer, at least in aged individuals. There is a more or less distinct white disk on the buttocks (most developed in winter) ; the face and front of the legs vary from whitey brown to brown, according to season and race ; ^ the inner side of the limbs and most of the under-parts are whitish ; but the thighs are always dark like the back. Ewes, which are scarce in collections, probably show less white on the fice, legs, and rump, and may have a tuft of longish hair on the nape of the neck. As regards the distinction between O. po/i and O. amnion^ the following passage may be quoted from Wild Oxen, etc. of All Lands. The general characters of the horns of adult rams of the typical O. amnion are so different from those of the adult male O. poli that there is never any In JVi/d Oxen, etc., it is stated that the face and front of the legs arc always white, whereas they are whitey brown only in old males of the typical race during summer. 84 Great and Small Game of India, etc. difficulty in distinguishing between the two animals, which are further differentiated by colour, the former having the outer surface of the thighs coloured like the back, while in the latter it is white. In the Tibetan race, where the horns are often more angulated, they are always much more massive than those of poli, as well as considerably shorter. In the Tibetan or Hodgson's argali the height at the shoulder seems to range from about 3^ feet to at least 3 feet 10 inches. The horns of the rams are less massive than in the typical race, and form a less open spiral, which does not exceed, and often falls short of, a complete circle. In nearly all instances their tips are broken, the wrinkles are but moderately prominent, and the outer front angle is, even in adult examples, frequently distinct. Adult males have a ruff of long whitish hair on the sides of the neck and the throat, which is believed to be present at all seasons ; and there is a crest of dark hair running from the nape of the neck to the withers. In the ewes, according to General A. Kinloch, a shorter ruff of dark hair is developed on the throat. Apart from the throat -ruff, the general colour of the hair is very similar to that of the typical race, but the old rams seem to be always darker. Greyish brown is the general colour of the upper- parts, the throat, chest, under-parts, and inner side of the limbs being white or whitish. The whole of the upper part of the face is brown, at least in the winter dress, but the lower part is generally somewhat lighter. There is also a dark streak down the front of the legs below the knees and hocks in the winter dress ; but whether in summer these parts become lighter is not ascertained. Indeed, specimens in the short summer coat are desiderata. In a ram measured by Major Greenway the length from the nose to the tip of the tail was 76 inches, and the weight about 212 lbs. The Tibetan Argali 85 In a ram shot by Mr. P. H. G. Powell-Cotton, whose age was estimated at ten years, the shoulder- height was 3 feet 9 inches, the girth 4 feet 2 inches, and the weight 205 lbs. The largest pair of horns on record, which were obtained by Mr. Arnold Pike in Ladak, measure ^j inches along the front curve, and have a girth of i8| inches, and a tip-to-tip interval of 29 inches. The four next largest specimens recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward respectively measure 501!,, 50, 48^, and 48 inches in length; their basal girths being 1 8:^;, 17, 19, and 16 inches. The range of this sheep includes the plateau of Tibet, extending from Northern Ladak at least as far east as the districts north of Sikhim, and northwards to the Kuen-lun and perhaps beyond the Mustag range, while firther east it may embrace the southern confines of the Gobi Desert. The animal is unknown to the southward of the main Himalayan axis, and does not even extend into Zanskar. In Ladak, where Chang-chenmo is one of its favourite resorts, the argali is seldom found below 1 5,000 feet, although descending to 1 2,000 feet during winter. Captain F. E. S. Adair, who has recently described his experiences ot nyan stalking in Ladak,^ and obtained a ram with horns of 42^ inches in length, is of opinion that the -450 " express " does not carry a bullet of sufficient weight to afford satisfactory results in this description of sport ; the vitality of the animal being so great that it can carry a fairly well-placed bullet for a much longer distance than its pursuer, in the rarified atmosphere of Tibet, is capable of following. This, however, scarcely accords with the experience of Mr. Cobbold referred to above ; although it must be remembered that the latter gentleman used a Miinnlicher. Although the large flocks of ewes and young rams which are met ' J Summer in High Asin. 86 Great and Small Game of India, etc. with in the Chang-chenmo district can be approached within a short distance, the case is very different with the crafty old rams, which, during the summer, keep apart from the flocks and resort to the highest grounds on which subsistence is procurable. Even when they are in broken country, the stalking is difficult enough, but when in the open, it requires all the skill of the sportsman to get within range. Younger rams may be seen with two or three ewes even in the summer. As the general habits of the nyan are practically the same as those of Marco Polo's sheep, it will suffice to say that the pairing -season occurs in the middle of the winter, and that the lambs are born five months later — in May or June. THE SHA, OR ASTOR AND LADAK WILD SHEEP [Ovis vigiiei) Native Names. — S/m, Shapo (male), Shamo (female), Ladaki ; Urin, IN AsTOR (Plate HI. Fig. 3) The sha of Astor and Ladak and the urial or oorial of the Punjab Salt Range are local races of a species distinguishable at a glance from both of the preceding kinds of wild sheep by its greatly inferior size and lighter horns. And since there is no danger of the sportsman mistaking the present animal for either of the latter, its description may be of the briefest. Inclusive of the two races, Ovis vignei may be described as a medium -sized wild sheep, with com- paratively slender and well- wrinkled horns of considerable length, which, when fully developed, curve forwards along the sides of the face, so that their tips come more or less nearly below the line of the The Sha 87 eyes. The curve may be almost entirely in one plane, or in a spiral, and seldom exceeds one circle. The degree of prominence of the two front angles of the horns is liable to a considerable amount of local or individual variation. The ewes have shorter and nearly straight horns. In the adult rams a ruff of long hair is developed on the throat, at iirst commencing as two lateral tufts, which soon unite in front. In summer the general colour of the upper- parts varies from rufous brown to grey, while in winter it is greyish brown ; the tail, a disk on the buttocks, the inner surface and more or less of the lower portion of the legs, together with the under -parts, white or whitish ; throat-ruff varying from black and white to pure white with black at the roots ; muzzle and parts of side of face in old animals white or whitish ; a patch behind the shoulder, and in some instances a line on the iianks, certain markings on the outer side of the limbs, and the tip of the tail blackish brown or black. In the true sha or urin of Ladak and Astor (the Astor animal being the type of the species) the height reaches to as much as 36 inches at the withers ; while the horns of old rams are massive at the base and form a wide circle, with more or less markedly divergent tips. Their front angles are rounded to a greater or less degree, so that they do not ever appear to form distinct beads or keels, and the transverse ridges on their front edge are never very coarse. The general tone of the summer coat tends rather to brown than to red ; and the ruff on the throat seems to be always smaller and mainly blackish brown. In the thirteen largest horns of this race recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward in the last edition of his book on horn-measurements the length along the front curve varies between 32 and 39 inches, while the basal girth ranges between lo^ and 1 2:|: inches, although only three examples fall below 1 1 inches. The head figured in Plate III. Fig. 3 is taken from a specimen in 88 Great and Small Game of India, etc. the British Museum shot in Ladak by Mr. P. H. G. Powell-Cotton. Although the horns are by no means large, the animal is fully adult, so that the characters of the ruff may apparently be taken as distinctive of the race. It will be seen that this ruff is restricted to the upper part of the throat, and is mainly formed of black or blackish -brown hairs, although in front these are partially overlain by white hairs. And it is these latter which become more developed to form the long white ruff distinctive of the Punjab race. Although the present writer has never seen horns of the true sha showing the distinct beads on the front angles of those of the Punjab race depicted in Fig. 4 of the Plate, yet in other respects sha horns may be practically indistinguishable from those of urial, although their average basal girth is greater. The geographical range of this race of wild sheep extends from Astor, where the animal is known as urin, to Zanskar, Ladak, and other districts in Tibet, where it is known as the sha. Eastwards the habitat extends through Gilgit to the confines of Afghanistan, where there is probably an intergrading between the present and the next race of the species. In Ladak and Zanskar these sheep are found at high elevations, in comparatively open country, where the herbage is scanty and forests do not exist. In Astor and Gilgit, on the other hand, they inhabit lower levels, where there are extensive grassy tracts below the forest-belt. Their habits, allowing for the difference in the nature of the country, are probably very similar to those of the Punjab and Afghanistan urial, although the accounts given of these by sportsmen are by no means so full as is desirable. The Urial 89 THE URIAL, OR PUNJAB WILD SHEEP [Ovis vlgne'i cycloceros) Native Names. — Guch (male), Mhh (female), Persian ; Koh-i-diimba (mountain sheep), Pushtu ; Koch, Gad (male), Garand (female), Baluchi and Sindi ; Kar (male), Gad (female), Brahui ; Urial, Punjabi (Plate III. Figs. 4, \'i) The urial, which is merely a rather small and brightly coloured local race of Ov'is v'lgnei of Tibet, is the only wild sheep inhabiting India proper ; and since it is to be met with in localities comparatively close to civilisation, where stalking is by no means difficult, its pursuit does not entail the time and hardships inseparable from sheep-stalking in Tibet and other parts of Central Asia. In height the rams seldom appear to exceed about 32 inches. The summer coat is a bright rufous brown, or foxy red ; and the rui^ on the throat and chest attains a great development, the long hairs on the front of its upper portion being pure white in old rams. Compared with those of the sha, the horns of the rams, which are usually slightly spiral, form a less open and more compact spiral, with their tips convergent and approximating to the eyes. Very frequently also their two front angles are prominent and form distinct nodose beads, or keels, between which the front surface is concave and marked by bold and widely separated transverse ridges, as in the old ram from Afghanistan forming the subject of Plate III. Fig. 4. In other specimens, however, as in a mounted male from Peshawur and two heads in the British Museum obtained by Dr. Aitchison in Afghanistan, N 90 Great and Small Game of India, etc. the front angles are much less prominent, and the horns are much more like those of the sha. Such differences are not solely due to age ; and in the case of some specimens it is, as already mentioned, very difficult to distinguish between sha and urial horns. In the thirteen largest specimens of typical urial horns catalogued by Mr. Rowland Ward, the length along the front curve ranges between 32^ and 39^ inches, while the basal girth varies between 8^ and 11 inches, six of the specimens measuring less than 10 inches. It is true that there is one specimen with a basal circumference of iif inches (the length being 30^ inches) ; but, speaking generally, it may be affirmed that urial horns are of inferior girth to those of the sha. Now the specimen on which 0. cycloceros was founded agrees with the general sha type rather than with the urial type, so that there is con- siderable probability of 0. cycloceros being really a synonym of O. vignei, instead of, as commonly supposed, indicating the Punjab form.^ And if this be so, it is, strictly speaking, no longer permissible to call the latter O. vignei cycloceros. But the difficulty is to know what name to use in place of this title. Some years ago the urial of Kelat in northern Baluchistan was described by Mr. A. O. Hume as a distinct species, under the name of 0. blanfonli, on account of the circumstance that in the type specimen the horns appeared to form a more open spiral, and consequently to be more widely separated at the tips than is the case in the Punjab animal. According to the amended measurements given by Mr. Rowland Ward, the length of the horns in the type specimen is 36 inches, their basal girth 9 J; inches, and the interval between their tips ij inches. In the original description Mr. Hume contrasted this specimen with a Punjab skull in which the tip-to-tip interval was only 5^ inches. Mr. Hume possesses, however, a second skull from the neighbourhood of 1 This statement must be taken as superseding the one on p. 1 68 of Wild Oxc?i, etc., Mr. Rowland Ward's lists having been improved since the publication of the latter. The Urial 91 Kelat in which the last-named interval is 1 1 inches, the length of the horns being 37-^ inches ; and there are two others known from Baluchistan in which this interval is respectively 10 and lof inches. Moreover, in the Punjab head figured below on the present page, the tip-to-tip interval is i8{ inches, and in Mr. Rowland Ward's book there are several specimens recorded from the Punjab, Sind, and Afghanistan in which this interval exceeds 16 inches. Consequently there do not appear to be any sufficient grounds for the separation of the Kelat urial as a distinct local IP m J ^ r> ■'^-- 1^ ¥ >^V^^|j^ i ^ Fig. 12. — Head of Male Urial. From the "record" specimen shot by Col. F. H. Taylor in the Punjab. race ; and the name bhuifordi would thus seem to be available to replace cycloceros. But, unfortunately, the name Ovis arkal was applied, at a much earlier date than Mr. Hume's description of the Kelat animal, to a wild sheep trom the Kopet-Dagh range, which forms the boundary between Turkestan and North Persia, to the eastward of the Caspian. And, as stated in Wild Oxen, etc. of All Lands, this 0. arkal appears inseparable trom cycloceros. If this view be correct, the name arkal has the right of priority tor the Punjab wild sheep. In the absence, however, of skins 92 Great and Small Game of India, etc. for comparison, it is almost impossible to be sure that 0. arkal may not indicate yet another local race of the present widely -spread species. Monsieur Dauvergne, in an interesting paper on Asiatic big game published in the Bulletin of the Paris Museum of Natural History for 1898, has indeed suggested (p. 217) that 0. m^kal may be the same as 0. blanfordi, which he keeps apart from O. cycloceros. Under these difficult circum- stances it seems best for the present to retain the latter title for the Punjab race ot the urial. The typical urial occurs in the Salt Range of the Punjab, whence it extends into the Cis-Indus ranges of the Western Punjab and Sind, and so on into Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Southern Persia, and apparently Russian Turkestan and parts of the Caucasus. The wild sheep of the two districts last mentioned is the aforesaid Ovis arkal, which may possibly indicate another race. It has been said that the Persian urial lacks the throat-ruff, but this is certainly not the case with a specimen from near Teheran figured in a work by the present writer entitled Horns and Hoofs. Urial in the Punjab are met with in low hills or on undulating ground deeply intersected with narrow gullies and ravines, usually pre- ferring the scarped hill-sides to bush or jungle. In the Jhelam district much of the ground they frequent consists of reddish coloured rocks, against which their foxy red coats are almost invisible except at very close quarters. Both sexes are commonly seen together, although during summer the old rams separate themselves to a certain extent from the flocks, which may vary in number from as few as three or tour to as many as twenty or thirty. In the Punjab the pairing-season takes place in September, and the young, of which there may be either one or two at a birth, are produced about six months later. In many of their habits urial are very like ordinary domesticated sheep, their usual cry being a bleat, while when frightened they utter a shrill whistle and stamp vigorously on the ground with their fore-feet. When the sun shines The Bharal 93 with its full power on the hill-sides and ravines where they dwell, the heat in summer becomes excessive, and the urial then seek shelter under shady rocks or among the jungle, feeding only in the comparative cool- ness of the mornings and evenings. In the cold season, especially when the sky is cloudy, and probably also during the rains, they may be seen on the move at all hours. They are better than the argali at getting over rough and rocky ground, although decidedly inferior in this respect to the bharal. In undisturbed districts they seldom wander tar from their feeding-grounds, and often descend into the open fields near by to graze on the young wheat and other crops. On the other hand, when they are much shot at, they retire to a considerable distance from their graz- ing-grounds before reposing for the mid-day hours. The steep ridges and ravines among which they dwell afford excellent stalking-ground, if only the sportsman can manage to walk over the loose stones and shingle without alarming his game. And even when thus disturbed, the flock will frequently be found in the adjoining ravine. THE BHARAL, OR BLUE SHEEP {Ov/'s nahnrci) Native Names. — Bharal^ Bharm\ and Bharut, Hindustani ; Na or Sua., Ladaki ; Wa OR War in the Sutlej Valley ; Nervati, Nepali ; Nao OR Gnao of the Bhotias (Plate III. Figs. 5, ^n) Whatever difficulty may be experienced in distinguishing between some of the other species and races of wild sheep (and in truth, owing to the close resemblance existing between several of them and the 94 Great and Small Game of India, etc. difference between their summer and winter coats, they are a very puzzling group) there is none at all in the case of the bharal or blue sheep of Tibet, which is markedly distinct from all the rest, and makes a step in the direction of the goats. One of the most striking features ot this species is to be found in the horns, which in the rams show a peculiar S-like curvature, and are rounded or sub-quadrangular at the base, with the whole surface (save for the annual rings of growth) nearly smooth and devoid of the transverse wrinkles and grooves so characteristic of these appendages in other Asiatic wild sheep. The horns of the ewes (Plate III. Fig. ^a) are also vmlike those of other sheep, being short, closely approximated at their bases, much compressed, and curving upwards and outwards in a somewhat scimitar-like fashion. Then, too, there are no traces of the glands below the eyes found in all the species of the genus hitherto noticed. Neither is the coloration less distinctive ; there being a distinct black stripe running along the flanks to divide the fawn of the back from the white of the belly, as well as similar stripes down the front of all four legs, and a dark streak down the face. In this latter respect, as well as in the absence of face-glands, the bharal is indeed more like a goat than an ordinary wild sheep, and it may consequently be well asked why the creature is classed among the latter rather than among the former animals, especially as the tail is relatively longer than in the other Asiatic wild sheep. To this it may be replied that the bharal lacks the beard found in the males of all species of goats, as well as the unpleasant odour so strongly in evidence in the latter. Moreover, there are glands between the hoofs in all the feet, whereas in goats such glands are never present in the hind limbs. Still it has to be acknowledged that the distinction between sheep and goats is, after all, but very slight, and that the bharal forms one of the connecting links between the two groups. The Bharal 95 In size the bharal stands about 36 inches at the withers ; its build is rather heavy, the head long and narrow, the ears short, and the coat, which is very thick and dense, without trace of either a mane on the neck or a ruff on the throat. The general colour of the hair on the back and the rest of the upper- parts is brownish grey with a tinge of slaty blue, tending more to brown in summer and more to slaty grey in winter. The under-parts of the body, the inner and hind surfaces of the legs, and the buttocks as far as the root of the tail are pure white. In full-grown rams the face and chest, a stripe running down the front of the legs (interrupted by a white patch at the knees), a band along the lower part of the ilanks bordering the white below, as well as the terminal two-thirds ot the tail, are black. These black markings are, however, wanting in the ewes. The colour of the horns is blackish olive. A full-grown bharal is stated to weigh about one hundred and thirty pounds. The longest pair of bharal horns on record were formerly in the possession of the late Brian Hodgson, and were stated to measure 32 inches along the curve. The next largest are 31-^ inches in length, with a basal circumference of 13^ inches, and a tip- to- tip interval of 22^ inches. Three specimens are on record whose length is 30 inches or over but less than 3 I ; while there are five known whose length reaches 29 inches but falls short of 30. Bharal are met with in Tibet and the adjacent districts at high elevations, being seldom found in winter below 10,000 feet, and in summer ascending to between 14,000 and 16,000 feet, or even higher. Their range extends from the main axis of the Himalaya in the south to the Kuen-lun and Altyn-tag in the north. Eastwards they are known to extend as far as Moupin, in Eastern Tibet, while westwards they range to Shigar, in Baltistan, and to the neighbourhood of Gujhal, in the upper Hunza valley near Passu. The fact of their occurrence in the latter district has been recently recorded by Captain A. H. M'Mahon in a paper 96 Great and Small Game of India, etc. contributed to the "Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society for 1899. As bharal approximate to the goats in structure and coloration, so they show certain resemblances to the latter in the matter of habits. For, although displaying an ovine habit in dwelling on open undulating country and resting at mid-day on or near their feeding-ground, these animals are much more active mountaineers than other Asiatic wild sheep, ascending- steep cliffs with comparative ease, and taking as rapidly as possible to diificult places when disturbed. The traveller in the more remote valleys in the neighbourhood of Leh may occasionally have the good fortune to stumble on a flock of bharal feeding or reposing on his line of route, as once happened to the present writer. On such occasions, with fair luck, several rams may be obtained without much difficulty, since, after being fired at, the members of the flock will run but a short distance before turning round to gaze at the intruder on their domains, after the manner of sheep in general, whether wild or tame. And a beautiful sight it is to see these handsome animals either lying down on the turf by the side of a mountain stream or standing at gaze. Many of the valleys in which they are found are strewn with boulders or masses of rock projecting through the turf, so that at a short distance it is frequently difficult to distinguish between boulders and bharal. The number of individuals in a flock commonly varies from ten or less to forty or fifty, but occasionally there may be as many as a hundred in company. In some districts on the Upper Indus the old rams are stated to betake themselves to feeding -grounds quite apart from the rest of the flock ; but in certain places, at any rate, both sexes may be seen together at least during a portion of the summer. It does not appear that bharal and sha are ever found together, but bharal and ibex have been observed on the same ground, and bharal and tahr seen actually grazing in company. The Sind Wild Goat 97 THE SIND WILD GOAT [Capra hi reus b/ythi) Native Names. — Pasang (male), Boz (female), and, commonly, Boz- pasang, Persian ; Boi-z, Pushtu ; Sair, Phashin, Pachhi, and Borz- kiihi (female), Baluchi ; Chunk (male), Hit, and Haraf (female), Brahui ; Ter AND Sarah, Sindi (Plate IV. Figs, i, ii^) As already mentioned, the goats (under which general term the naturalist includes ibex) are so closely connected by means of the bharal and other aberrant forms with the sheep that it is very hard to draw up a definition for either of the two groups. No goat has, however, glands either on the face or between the hoofs of the hind-feet, while the bucks are furnished with a more or less conspicuous beard on the chin, and likewise exhale the well-known " goaty " odour. Moreover, whereas wild sheep always have a short summer coat, in the majority of goats the coat is more or less long and shaggy at all seasons. In the typical genus Capra the horns of the full- grown males, which are of great relative length, arise close together on the forehead, and are more or less compressed or angulated, springing above the plane of the forehead either in a scimitar-like curve or in a spiral. In the does the horns are much shorter and placed further apart at their bases. The Sind wild goat — the Sind ibex of sportsmen — is a near relative of the Persian wild goat {Capra hirciis agagrus), which is itself nothing more than the wild representative of the domesticated goat. The ordinary Persian wild goat is an animal of comparatively slender build, standing about 37 inches at the withers. In old males the long scimitar-shaped backwardly curving horns are compressed, with the front edge sharp and keeled for some distance above its base, after which it carries several bold o 98 Great and Small Game of India, etc. and widely separated knobs. On their inner side the horns are nearly flat, externally they are convex, and posteriorly rounded off. Although occasionally directed outwards, their tips are usually inclined inwards ; throughout their length they are marked by faint transverse striations, and in colour they are nearly black. In the does (Plate IV. Fig. la) the horns are less compressed, not longer than the head, and devoid of knobs. The Fig. 13. — The Sind Wild Goat. From a buck killed in the Lora Haman Hills, north-west of Kelat, by Sir Robert Harvey. beard of the bucks is very long, especially in winter, and in old animals occupies the whole width of the chin, although in their younger brethren restricted to its middle portion. During the winter the hair on the neck and shoulders becomes markedly longer than in summer ; and in the colder portions of its habitat the animal develops a coat of woolly under-fur, or pashm, at the base of the hairs. In winter the general colour of the upper-parts may be described as some shade of brownish grey, and in summer as reddish brown ; but at all seasons the very old bucks tend to The Sind Wild Goat 99 become paler. On the under surface of the body, as well as on the inner sides of the buttocks and thighs, the hair is white or whitish. Although some degree of individual variation is observable in the extent and form of the black and white markings, it may be said, speaking generally, that in the full-grown and sub-adult bucks the face, a broad streak from the nape of the neck to the root of the tail, the whole of the latter, a collar on the Fig. 14.— Skull and Horns of Male Sind Wild Goat. From a specimen in the Collection of Mr. A. O. Hmnc. neck expanding below into a breastplate, the throat, the chin, the beard, the front surfaces of the legs, with the exception of the knees, and a stripe along the flanks defining the brown of the back from the white of the under-parts and joining the dark streak on the front of the thighs, are dark blackish brown, passing in some examples almost into pure black on the beard, face, and certain other parts. The knees, the hinder and inner surfaces of the fore-legs immediately below, together with the hocks and the corresponding surfaces of the lower portion of the hind-legs, are white. loo Great and Small Game of India, etc. Compared with the Persian animal, the Sind wild goat appears to be of slightly inferior size, with the horns of the bucks either entirely without knobs or carrying only a few very small-sized ones. The ground-colour of the coat is likewise decidedly paler. Sometimes the neck and the fore part of the body behind the dark collar are much lighter than the rest of the animal, the bucks often showing a large patch of dirty white on each side of the neck, and having the greater part of the body behind the shoulder- collar (which is dark mahogany brown) nearly pure white. Sir Robert Harvey describes them as very ditferent-looking animals to the specimen figured in Wild Oxen, etc. of All Lands ; but they would be more like a buck from Mount Ararat in the British Museum, which has light-coloured fore-quarters. Another feature is that, in proportion to their lengths, the horns are frequently rather more closely approximated at their tips than in the Persian wild goat. The three finest pairs of horns on record respectively measure ^2'^, 48, and 46! inches in length, with basal girths of 7I, 8, and yf inches, and tip-to-tip intervals of 8f , 20^, and 14 inches. The second specimen is an exception to the general rule in respect to the interval between the horn-tips being comparatively small. The Sind race of the wild goat is an inhabitant of the mountains of the country from which it takes its name, as well as those of Baluchistan. In the eastern districts of the last-named country it probably passes imper- ceptibly into the Persian race of Capra hircus. Whether the wild goat ot Afghanistan is identical with the Persian or the Sind representative of the species remains for future determination. In connection with the names of the Sind wild goat in its own country, it is interesting to note that one of its titles is 7>r, which suggests affinity with the term Tiir, applied to the wild goats of the Caucasus, and likewise with Tahr, the well-known appellation of the Himalayan representative of the short-horned goats. In Sind, at any rate, the present race inhabits a more barren and less Great &i Small Game of India&lc, Plate IV. y7 PLLbUaheci byRowloTid. WarcLLtd' ■ PLATE IV la. Sind Wild Goat. 4. Pir Panjal Markhor. za. Himalayan Ibex. 5, ^a. Suleman Markhor. 3. Astor Markhor. 6. Himalayan Tahr. 7. Nilgiri Tahr. The Baltistan Ibex loi wooded country than does its Persian representative, and it appears to be found at no very great elevation above the sea-level. Allowing for this difference, its habits are probably very similar. THE BALTISTAN IBEX {Capni sibirica wardi) Native Names of Asiatic Ibex generally. — Ski/i or Sakin (male), Dabino or Dajimo (female), Ladaki ; A.'f/, Kashmiri ; Tcmgrol in KuLU ; Buz in Kunawar ; Skin, Balti The Asiatic ibex, of which the race inhabiting the Thian Shan range and Siberia is the typical representative (C sibirica typica), is one of the handsomest of all the wild goats, its long, sweeping, and boldly knotted horns being much thicker and more massive than those of the Arabian ibex, while they greatly exceed in length all known specimens of the horns of the typical, or Alpine ibex. Apart from the special characters of its several local races, the Asiatic ibex presents the following distinctive features. The height at the withers reaches to between 40 and 42 inches, the general build is heavy, with the legs coarse and clumsy ; and the long and pointed beard occupies the middle of the chin. In the long and scimitar-shaped horns ot the males the front surface is very broad, with no bevelling away of the outer edge, and bearing a number of prominent and thick knots or knobs, of which the outer side is almost as much developed as the inner. In section these horns form a complete triangle, with the hinder angle compressed. Female horns are very much smaller and much more widely separated at their bases, and are coarsely rugose or ringed, without knots ; their transverse section being oval at the base but compressed above; they curve slightly backwards. The fur is coarse, dense, and somewhat brittle ; I02 Great and Small Game of India, etc. along the back of the old bucks it is elongated to form a kind of crest, and in winter, at any rate, it is underlain by a thick coat of under-fur, or pashm, which may be visible at the surface during the season when the coat is being shed. The colour of the Asiatic ibex varies so much according to sex, age, and locality, that it is a somewhat difficult matter to give a descrip- tion which shall be applicable to all the local varieties of the species. And the difficulty is increased by the lack of a sufficiency of skins from different localities for comparison. Speaking generally, it may be said that in summer the prevailing colour of the upper-parts is some shade of brown, varying from whitey brown to chocolate (in old males), and in some instances with a large buffish-white saddle on the hinder part of the back, and a smaller patch of the same colour on the withers. The under-parts may be nearly the same colour as the back, or markedly lighter. In winter the coat is generally paler, being often yellowish or dirty white, but, especially in old males in the early part of the season, it may be chocolate, with the aforesaid light- saddle. At all times of the year a chocolate streak generally, if not invariably, runs down the middle of the back ; and the beard and tail, together with the legs, are generally dark chocolate -brown, although the latter may be white on the hinder surface. The females, which are considerably smaller than the males, are generally more uniformly coloured, being greyish brown with dark legs ; but in one race they are lighter-coloured, with the under-parts pure white. The winter coat appears to become lighter coloured as the season advances, owing to bleaching by exposure to the weather. In the typical Siberian race of the Asiatic ibex, of which a specimen in the British Museum, from the Thian Shan, is figured in Plate XXIV. of Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats of All Lands, the general colour is light brown, with most of the under-parts only a little lighter than the flanks. The Baltistan Ibex 103 the chocolate streak down the back being very well defined, and the abdomen and the hinder half of the lower portion of the legs white. There is no trace of a white saddle in either of two mounted specimens in the British Museum, one of which is from the Altai and the other from the Thian Shan. In winter the colour is probably paler than in summer, but it is not easy to ascertain whether the Museum specimens are in the winter or the summer coat. It is not certain whether this typical race (C. sibirica typica) enters the area under consideration. I04 Great and Small Game of India, etc. The Baltistan ibex, of which a description by Mr. F. W. True will be found on p. 282 of the work last cited, is a very dark-coloured animal, with a very large buffish-white saddle (bisected by the chocolate dorsal streak) occupying the whole of the hinder part of the back, and another smaller patch of the same colour in front of the withers. Elsewhere the fur is dark brown, with the exception of the posterior surface of the hind legs, where it may be white, and the abdomen, where it is whitish. Mr. True's description is taken from two skins, now in America, obtained from Braldu, in Upper Baltistan ; and since that was written I have seen two beautiful specimens from the same part of Baltistan, mounted by Mr. Rowland Ward, one of which (Fig. i 5) he has presented to the British Museum. The latter example differs from Mr. True's specimens, in that the hind legs (like the front pair) are brown, grizzled with white behind. The white saddle is separated only by a narrow bar of brown from the white patch on the withers, which is transversely extended, and the hair of the dark dorsal streak forms a crest. A mounted specimen in the British Museum, obtained in Kashgar by the Second Yarkand Expedition, is also of the same type, although the original striking contrast in colour between the light saddle and the rest of the back is obscured by dirt ; it has the hind-legs white behind below the hocks. Possibly this specimen may have been obtained from the districts to the southward of Kashgar. The horns of the Baltistan ibex are very large, and of a light brown colour. All the ibex from Baltistan that have come under the writer's notice have the same peculiar coloration, and as they appear to be different in this respect from both the Siberian and the Himalayan races, they seem to indicate a well-marked local variety, which, if it prove distinct from the under-mentioned form, may be called C. sibirica wardi, after Mr. Rowland Ward, the donor of the type specimen to the British Museum. The exact limits of the range of the Baltistan ibex must be left The Baltistan Ibex 105 for future determination. Within the area treated of in the present volume, apart from the Kashmir neighbourhood and the main Himalayan range, ibex occur in the Herat district and other parts of Afghanistan, in the Gilgit neighbourhood, and in Baltistan. An ibex believed to come from the valley of the Irtish, which drains the Semipalatinsk Altai and flows into the Obi, has recently been described by Mr. Walter Rothschild^ as C. sibirica lyikkkcri, and is evidently nearly related to the Baltistan form. The horns of the bucks are remarkable for their great thickness from back to front, and have somewhat irregular knots. In the male the general colour of the fur, both above and below, is wood- brown, with a large bufiish saddle (traversed by the dorsal streak) on the hinder part of the back and a smaller patch of the same colour in front of the withers. The lower portions of all four legs are entirely brown — dark brown in front and golden brown behind — but the thighs may be whitish behind, as is sometimes the case in the Thian Shan race. In the female the hair ot the whole of the under-parts is pure white. As there is no evidence that the does of the Baltistan ibex show this peculiar feature, this may prove to aiford a sufficient distinction between the two forms. As it is, the chief distinction is in the golden brown of the hinder surface of the lower part of the hind-legs ; the same part in the Baltistan ibex being either white or dark grizzled brown. Moreover the white neck-patch is placed more forward in the Irtish ibex, and is also considerably less wide. In view of these differences, and the apparent wide geographical separation of the two forms, it seems inadvisable, for the present at least, to unite them. It may be added that the Irtish specimens were obtained in company with the Siberian roe {Capreolus pygargus) and Littledale's sheep {Ovis sairensis), while the Baltistan animal associates with the Astor markhor. 1 Novitates Zoological, vol. vii. p. 277, pi. xi. (1900). P io6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. The longest horns of the Asiatic ibex (including all its races) recorded in Mr. Rowland Ward's book measure 56 inches along the curve, and were obtained from the Tagdumbash district. Horns from the neighbourhood of Gilgit and Baltistan are known of which the respective lengths are 54!, 53^;, and 52 inches, while the basal girth ranges from 10 to 11^ inches. Some or all of the three last-named specimens belong to the typical race. In the Himalayan ibex the maximum recorded length is 51^ inches. So much has been written with regard to the habits of the Asiatic ibex, that a short notice will suffice on this occasion. Mr. Darrah, whose specimens were obtained in the Gilgit district, which may be within the area of the present race, has given, in Sport bi the Highlands of Kashmir, the following excellent and concise account : — " Ibex and markhor," he writes, " seem only to move morning and evening. During the day they lie in covert, or under rocks, or on snow, usually in some inaccessible spot, far up on the ranges amongst which they are found. They go downwards in the evening for the sake of such grazing as the barren mountains they frequent produce, which is naturally best at the lowest elevations. In the mornings they graze their way upwards again to the places they occupy during the day. Here, while the others sleep, one or two of the herd carefully watch the hill-sides below them, ready to give the alarm at the first appearance of danger. Consequently they cannot be approached from below at all. And from above they are almost equally hard to reach, though for different reasons. Ibex delight in snow, and usually get up as far as possible — so far, indeed, that it is generally a practical impossibility to get above them. . . . Such being the habits of these two species of goat, the mid-day halt became a necessity, and the morning and evening were alone devoted to searching the hill-sides." The same writer, like all those who have described ibex- stalking. Dauvergne's Ibex — Himalayan Ibex 107 was much struck with the marvellous vitality of these animals, which when hard hit will frequently go a considerable distance as if nothing- were amiss. One which Mr. Darrah eventually secured travelled a long way, without showing much signs of suffering, when it had received five bullets. DAUVERGNE'S IBEX (Gapra sibirica daiivergnei) Brief mention may be made in this place of certain ibex heads purchased in the bazaar at Srinagar, and named by Mr. R. A. Sterndale Capra dauvergnei. The horns are remarkable for their sharp curve, and the absence of knots on the front surface except towards the tips. The longest pair measured 52 inches. It is suggested that these specimens came from the districts to the west of Kashmir. The absence ot knots, if it were confined to a single specimen, might be attributed to an abnormality ; but its occurrence in three specimens is against this view.^ THE HIMALAYAN IBEX (Capra sibirica sacin) (Plate IV. Figs. 2, za) It is a matter for regret that at the present day complete skins of the Himalayan race of the Asiatic ibex are almost unknown in English collections. From the description of sportsmen it appears, however, that it is a very light-coloured animal, without the light saddle of the Baltistan and Irtish races, and with uniformly brown legs, which features, as well 1 In Pn/d Oxen, etc., p. 285, more weight is given to the idea of these specimens being abnormalities. io8 Great and Small Game of India, etc. as its lighter colour, serve to distinguish it from the typical Thian Shan and Siberian representative of the species. In describing the Himalayan ibex, apparently from specimens obtained in the Wardwan valley. General A. A. Kinloch, in Large Game Shooting in Thibet and the North-West, writes as follows: — "The prevailing colour is a dirty white, with a ridge of coarse chocolate-coloured hair along the back ; the lower-parts, legs, and some irregular patches are of the same dark tint." Again, General D. Macintyre, on p. 109 of The Hindu Koh, gives a very similar description of Wardwan ibex, but notices a seasonal change. " The colour of the ibex," he writes, " is not easily de- scribed, as, like that of most wild animals, it alters considerably at different seasons of the year, and some bucks are very much darker than others. In the spring it is a very dirty white, shaded off" on the shoulders and flanks into a brownish grey, which merges into brown on the legs. A brown line runs along the back, ending in a very dark brown short tail. The head and neck are reddish brown, and a nearly black beard, about six inches long, depends from the chin. Late in the season the dirty white becomes more decidedly brown." In both these descriptions it will be noticed that the legs are spoken of as uniformly brown ; and Mr. Blanford [Mammals of India, p. 504) states that the same was the case in a Himalayan skin examined by him- self. No mention is made in either description of the white saddle and dark surrounding fur which forms such a conspicuous feature ot the Baltistan ibex. And it therefore seems, so far as the material available admits of forming an opinion, that the Himalayan, Baltistan, Irtish, and Thian Shan ibex are all entitled to rank as separate races of one very variable species. Exclusive of the Pir Panjal, and apparently the Kaj-nag range, this ibex inhabits the higher elevations of the Himalaya from the neighbour- hood of Kashmir at least as far eastwards as the source of the Ganges. The Astor Markhor 109 Not improbably it extends as far westwards as the bend of the Indus above Gilgit ; and ibex have been shot in the Nubra valley, north of Leh, as well, perhaps, as in other parts of Ladak. These Ladak ibex might be considered as belonging to the Thian Shan race, were it not for the circum- stance that the Ladak argali is distinct from that of the Altai, Skins are, however, necessary in order to determine this point. Ibex probably also occur to the north of Lhasa and Shigatze, but in the absence of specimens it is quite impossible to say anything with regard to the race to which they belong. It may be added that true ibex (that is to say, exclusive of the wild goat and the so-called tur of the Caucasus and Spain) form a well-defined group of the genus Capra, with several distinct species, ranging from the Alps and the mountains of Northern Africa and Arabia to those of Central and Northern Asia. THE ASTOR MARKHOR ( Capra falconeri ) Native Names. — Markhor, Pushtu, Punjabi, and South Kashmiri ; Racht\ Raphoche (male), and Rawache (female), Ladaki ; Rezki/h, Matt (male), and Hit or Haraf (female), Brahui ; Pachin and Sara (male), Buzkuhi (female), Baluchi (Plate IV. Fig. 3) Although, as stated above, ibex are represented by several species, and have a comparatively wide geographical distribution, the magnificent goat generally known by its Pushtu name of markhor (snake-eater) is restricted to the mountains of Afghanistan, Kashmir, Baltistan, and the neighbouring districts, where it is represented by a single species only. This species iio Great and Small Game of India, etc. varies, however, locally to such a degree in the form of its horns that were only the extreme modifications known they would certainly be entitled to rank as separate species. The intermediate forms serve, however, to connect these extreme types so closely as to indicate that they are really nothing more than races of a single very variable species. In other words, the extreme types may be regarded as incipient species, requiring only the extinction of the intermediate forms to permit their being regarded in the light of full-blown species. Natives for the most part fail to distinguish by name between such local modifications ; and it will accordingly be under- stood that the native titles quoted above refer to the markhor generally. From all the other wild representatives of the goat tribe, the markhor, in the wide sense of that term, differs so markedly that by no possibility can it be mistaken for any of its relatives ; the spiral twist formed by the magnificent horns of the old bucks rendering them unlike those of all other species of the genus Capra, the nearest approach to them being made by those of the Spanish tur, or ibex. Inclusive of its local varieties, the markhor may be described as a heavily -built animal, standing from about 35 to 41 inches in height at the withers, with the hair of the body very long and silky in the winter coat ; under-fur, or pashm, being wanting. At all times of the year the old bucks are furnished with a flowing beard of long hair, extending downwards from the middle of the chin on to the throat and chest, whence it spreads upwards to the base of the ears and the nape of the neck. In the young bucks, on the other hand, there is none of this excessive hirsute development, the beard being confined to the chin, as in the other species of goats. It is, however, a peculiarity of this species that the does are provided with a beard very like that of the younger bucks. In the males the horns, which attain an enormous length and weight, and arise close together, are much compressed laterally, and are twisted into a spiral, of which the The Astor Markhor III front keel or ridge ^ has at first an outward direction ; the form of the spiral presenting a gradation from that of a very open corkscrew to that of an ordinary screw, ot which the keels in front and behind form the thread. In young animals the front and back keels of the horns are sharp and distinct throughout their length, but with advancing age the keel on the front of the base disappears, so that the horn is here rounded. Does have very much smaller horns, of the same general spiral form. Fig. 1 6.— Horns of Male Astor Markhor. From a specimen in the Collection of Mr. A. O. Hume. As regards colour, the general hue of the winter coat is some shade of grey, and that of the summer coat reddish brown, but old males tend to become more or less whitish. The under -parts, which may be whitish, are ordinarily lighter in colour than the back ; a dark stripe runs from the knees and hocks down the front of the leo-s to the fetlocks ; and the tail is dark brown. In the old males the front portion of the beard is black, and that behind light grey ; but 1 In all these wild goats this ridge begins at the back of the horn and sweeps forwards, whereas in all tame goats, even some of those with very markhor-like horns, the ridge begins in front and sweeps backwards (A. O. Hume, MS.). 1 1 2 Great and Small Game of India, etc. in young males and does, in which only the front portion is repre sented, it is wholly black. Young animals are greyish brown in colour, with a dark dorsal streak. The horns are black. It may be added that skins of the ditferent local races, of different ages and seasons, are much needed in our museums in order to show whether there are constant differences in colour between such races, which are at present mainly distinguished by the characters of the horns. The markhor with the most widely-spread and most openly-twisted horns is the Astor race, in which the spiral apparently never forms more than one and a halt turns. This race attains a large size, and is represented by a mounted male, as well as by a stuffed head, in the British Museum. As it is the typical representative of the species, its full title is Capra falconeri typica. It is found on the ranges of Astor and Baltistan ; and on the confines of Hazara and Gilgit apparently passes into the Pir Panjal race, although actual observations on this point are urgently required. Horns from Astor are known respectively measuring 60 and 56 inches along the outside curve. Since accounts of the habits of the different races of the markhor are given in Wild Oxen, etc. of All hands, a very brief notice will suffice here. The present race, although inhabiting a country where there are considerable patches of forest at a medium elevation, is stated to resort to these only for the sake of protection from insects in summer, keeping at other times to the open. In winter they descend to comparatively low levels. They are sometimes seen grazing in company with ibex. Mr. Darrah, who shot these animals to the north of the great bend of the Indus above Gilgit, in the Haramosh district, writes as follows of their general habits : — " Markhor do not like snow, and seldom go higher than the snow-line, looking for crags and rocks at that elevation. It is there- fore possible sometimes to get above them, but the ground they select The Pir Panjal Markhor 113 is usually so precipitous that nothing can be done, and they are practically as safe as ibex when lying up for the day." THE PIR PANJAL MARKHOR ( Capra falconer i cashmiriensis) (Plate IV. Fig. 4) Although horns of the typical Pir Panjal race of the markhor are readily distinguishable from those of typical representatives of the Astor form, there are, as already observed, specimens so exactly intermediate between the two that it is frequently a matter of difficulty to decide to which they should be assigned. It is probable that such intermediate examples occur on the confines of the respective habitats of the two races. In typical Pir Panjal heads, such as the one shown in the annexed figure, the horns are less divergent and have a somewhat less open spiral, which forms from one to two complete turns. In size the animal is fully the equal of its Astor relative, standing from 40 to 41 inches at the shoulder. Typically inhabiting the Pir Panjal range, which forms the southern barrier of the vale of Kashmir, this markhor crosses the Jhelam into the Kaj-nag, which is really the north-western continuation of the Pir Panjal. Thence it appears to extend northwards through Hazara and Chilas into Gilgit ; but to the north-east of the Gilgit river, judging from the specimens obtained by Mr. Darrah, it seems to give place to the Astor race. In this district, however, as already remarked, the two races seemingly inter- grade, so that no hard-and-fast lines can be drawn between their respective habitats. The longest markhor horns on record are a pair picked up on the Pir Panjal or Kaj-nag range, whose length is Q 114 Great and Small Game of India, etc. 63 inches ; other specimens from the same ranges respectively measure 59 and 56^ inches, while a pair from Gilgit, referable either to the present or the preceding race, reach 58^ inches. By the Pir Panjal shikaries it is only to the old bucks that the Fin. 17. — Skull and Horns of Male Pir Panjal Markhor. From a specimen in the possession of Mr. A. O. Hume. name markhor is assigned, the younger bucks being termed rind, and the does bakri (she -goat). In both the Pir Panjal and the Kaj-nag ranges this goat is an inhabitant of the dense forests of pine and birch clothing the scarped hill-sides ; its feeding-grounds being formed by The Pir Panjal Markhor ^15 the intervening grassy glades. Although generally difficult to find, the old bucks are almost sure to show themselves at the first gleam of sunshine after one of the storms which at certain seasons rage so furiously on these mountains. The late summer is the season when the old bucks keep most to dense covert. In the old days markhor- FiG. 18. — Horns of Western Markhor. From a specimen in the Collection of Mr. A. O. Hume. shooting — to those capable of negotiating some of the most difficult ground conceivable — was one of the finest of Kashmir sports, but the numbers of old bucks with fine horns have been grievously reduced in recent years. A favourite starting-point to the ground was the nala joining the Jhelam valley at its bend below Naushahra. ii6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. The horns represented in the figure on page 1 1 5 differ to a certain extent from those of the typical Pir Panjal markhor, and in the opinion of Mr. A. O. Hume indicate a distinct race, for which the name of western markhor is suggested. In regard to this type of horn Mr. Hume has written to the pubhsher as follows : — " The horns of this form, hitherto never seen on the entire skull, but usually on the frontal bone only, are brought down occasionally to Peshawar from Cabul, and again find their way sometimes into the Srinagar bazaar. They come from the west, and from a long way off, and that is all that can usually be learned about them. They belong to the cork-screw group, but differ from those of the two preceding races in being much slenderer, and also in the greater numbers of turns put in by their main ridge in any given length of horn measured straight from base to tip. In this respect they are to the Pir Panjal and Astor races what the Suleman Range ones are to those of the Cabul Mountains. The horns make a regular V, broader or narrower, but the tip-to-tip measurement never, I believe, exceeds the length straight, and usually, I think, falls at least one-sixth short of this. The Cabuli from whom the specimen figured was purchased said he believed that they came from Hazara — at the time I thought that he meant British Hazara, but I now believe he meant Afghan Hazara. I have often thought that perhaps they come from Kafiiristan, and that they form a connecting link between the Pir Panjal and Cabul races." THE CABUL MARKHOR {Capra fa leaner i megaceros) The markhor inhabiting the mountain ranges of Northern Afghanistan forms the third stage in the gradation from the Astor to the Suleman representative of the species, its horns being, in fact, intermediate in The Cabul Markhor 117 character between those of the latter and those of the Pir Panjal race, In full-grown bucks these appendages, although nearly straight, still form a slightly open spiral, or, in other words, show a tendency towards the cork-screw type so conspicuous in the two preceding races. It is probable. Fig. 19. — Skull and Horns of Cabul Markhor. From a specimen in the possession of Mr. A. O. Hume. indeed, that a complete gradation may be tound from the Pir Panjal to the Suleman type by means of the present form, although it has yet to be demonstrated that any two of the three races in question are in the habit of herding with one another. Although measurements are lacking, it seems probable that the bodily size attained by this race is medium. ii8 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Its habitat includes the Trans-Indus mountains in the neighbourhood of Cabul, and perhaps some of those farther to the southward : thus forming the north-westerly limits of the geographical range of the species. The longest horns recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward which can be definitely assigned to the present race are the pair shown in figure 19 on p. 117, which measure 32 inches in length. Mr. Hume writes as follows in reference to this race : — "The Cabul horns are rare, but every specimen which I have been able to localise accurately belonged to this type. Hutton's figure of his Cabul specimen shows that it belonged to this type. Vigne's vignette in his personal narrative of the specimen killed for him in the Lughman Hills by Akhbar Khan shows that this too belonged to this type. Two specimens sent to me from Cabul are of the same type, and so too was the one huge horn which Hutton had in his possession in 1852, and of which I noted the length at 50 inches; in reference to which he said, 'They say in Cabul that if you stand a good pair on the tips a big man can pass through them on hands and knees,' which must refer to horns at least 4 feet straight measurement. This race extends throughout the northern portions of Afghanistan which lie adjacent to Cabul — how much farther it extends in any direction is uncertain." THE SULEMAN MARKHOR ( Capra falconeri jenioni) (Plate IV. Figs. 5, 5^/) The markhor of the Suleman range, on the eastern frontier of Afghanistan, has been aptly designated the straight-horned race ; the horns of the bucks, which never attain the gigantic dimensions of those ot the The Suleman Markhor 119 Astor race, forming a perfectly straight cone, upon which the front and back keels are wound in a sharp spiral, like the threads of a double- threaded screw. In fine examples, such as the one figured in the annexed Fig. 20. — Skull and Horns of Suleman Markhor. From a specimen in the possession of Mr. A. O. Hume. cut, two or three complete turns are formed. As regards size, this markhor is a smaller animal than the typical form, its shoulder-height apparently not exceeding about 25 inches. It is stated also that the beard is less developed — probably on the throat, chest, and shoulders — than in the Astor and Pir Panjal races, but specimens are urgently needed in order 1 20 Great and Small Game of India, etc. to test this statement, as they likewise are in order that the colour of the beard and coat may be properly described. So far as the specimen here figured admits of forming a judgment, it appears that the beard on the chin and upper part of the throat is at least as fully developed as in the typical race. The habitat of the straight-horned markhor includes the Trans-Indus hill-ranges of the Punjab frontier, together with those of south and eastern Afghanistan and Baluchistan. In the Suleman range this goat is found as far south as the neighbourhood of Mithankot, and it also occurs in the Quetta district, where, however, the horns are stated to show a tendency towards the assumption of a less compact spiral. The longest horn on record is a single one picked up on the Suleman range, of which the length is 48^ inches. Next to this is a pair in the British Museum, from Afghanistan, measuring 39JI inches, while the third in point of size is the head herewith figured, in which the horns are 2g\ inches in length. The hill-ranges frequented by the straight-horned race of the markhor are comparatively barren and bare, and in summer are subject to a heat equalled in but few parts of India. Consequently the habits of the animal must be very different to those of its forest-dwelling relative on the snow- clad scarps of the Pir Panjal. Unfortunately, the life- history of this goat still remains to be told ; and all that can be said at present is that, com- pared with the Astor race of the species, the Suleman markhor is the exact counterpart, so far as its habitat is concerned, of the urial of the Salt range, as contrasted with the urin, or sha, of Astor and Ladak. Mr. Hume writes that " the horns of the females, though smaller and slenderer, are of the same general character as those of the males, but they differ in two noteworthy points. First, the back or main ridge seems always more rounded and never so sharply pinched up as in the male. Second, the secondary ridge, which never I believe shows itself in the male lower than the end of the first half turn of the horn, in the female runs The Suleman Markhor 121 right down on to the frontal point, and is there fully as prominent as the main ridge behind. In this respect, therefore, the female horns are just half-way between those of the males of the wild and tame goats respectively of this general type. " This race occurs right down the Suleman range from Kohat to Fig. 21. — Head of Suleman Markhor. From Mr. A. f. Grant's Waziristan specimen. opposite Mithankot. It also occurs on certain high hills not far from Quetta, but not farther south in Baluchistan proper, nor, Sir O. B. St. John informed me, according to the Afghans, north of Kandahar in Afghanistan, though he himself considered it likely that it extended through the higher eastern hills away inland from the Suleman." 122 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE HIMALAYAN TAHR ( Hemitragus jem la iciis) Native Names. — Tehr or Jehr in the Western Himalaya ; Kras and Jagla, Kashmiri ; Jhii/a (male) and I'ahrni (female) in Kunawar ; Esbu in the Upper Sutlej valley ; Ka?-t in Kulu and Chamba ; Jharal, Nepali (Plate IV. Fig. 6) In spite of the circumstance that its distinctness was pointed out and a name proposed for it by the late Mr. Brian Hodgson so far back as 1841, the Himalayan tahr was for many years included by a number of naturalists in the genus Capra. Wiser counsels have, however, at length prevailed, and, together with the allied forms, it is now regarded as representing a genus apart. The short-horned goats, as the various species of tahr may be collectively termed, are distinguished from the true goats by the absence of the beard in the bucks, and the comparative shortness of their horns, which are placed close together at the base, and do not greatly exceed the length of the head. A further distinctive feature being found in the fact that the horns of the females are but little smaller than those of the males, thereby indicating a transition from the true goats in the direction of the serows and gorals. The bucks exhale the same strong odour as those of the true goats. The muzzle bears a small naked area ; but glands are wanting alike on the face and in the feet. A remarkable difference between the females of the two Indian representatives of the genus is that whereas one has four teats, the other bears but two. The horns are black in colour, and spring from the skull in the plane of the forehead, curving smartly backwards ; they are much compressed, with the front edge ano-ulated. The Himalayan Tahr 123 The true, or Himalayan tahr, which forms the type of the group, is a long-haired and shaggy animal ; so shaggy, indeed, that stuifed specimens, in which the hair has to be combed out during the process of preparation, scarcely ever exhibit this very characteristic feature in its full perfection. In height the animal stands from 36 to 40 inches at the withers ; and it is of somewhat heavy and clumsy build, with a remarkably long, narrow, and straight face. The horns of the bucks, which are almost, if not completely, in contact at their bases, are much compressed, and tor some distance flattened on both sides ; the lateral surfaces are distinctly marked with transverse striae, and the front angle forms a sharp keel, bearing at intervals small knob-like elevations ; after diverging from their bases, and curving sharply backwards, the horns become slightly convergent towards their tips. Although the hair on the head and face is for the most part short, elsewhere it is long and soft, attaining its maximum length and shagginess on the neck, shoulders, and chest of the old bucks, where it forms a huge mane, extending at least as far downwards as the knees. Darker in old males than in younger bucks and females, the general colour of the hair of the tahr may be described as reddish or dark brown ; some individuals are, however, paler coloured than others, and in the old bucks the fore part of the mane tends to assume a more or less conspicuous whitish or hoary tinge. When the coat is turned back, the hairs will be found to be pale-coloured at the root and dark brown at the tip. The face, as well as the front surfaces of the legs, are of such a dark shade of brown as to appear almost black in some examples ; and a dark streak runs down the back, although in old males this becomes very indistinct. In the bucks the hinder surfice of the legs is a pale or rusty red. Immature tahr of both sexes are greyish brown, while the kids are very pale coloured. The short and flattened tail is devoid of hair on its under surface, as are the hard pads, or callosities on the knees, and the female is provided with two pairs of teats. About 200 lbs. may be given as the 124 Great and Small Game of India, etc. approximate weight of a rull-grown male tahr. The lengths of the four largest pairs of tahr horns recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward are I4f, 14!^, I4j-\, and 14^ inches ; the basal girths of the two latter examples being respectively 8f and 9! inches. Three of these fine specimens were obtained in Chamba ; the locality of the fourth being unknown. It is a remarkable fact in connection with this tahr that it retains its long coat at all seasons ot the year ; the same being to a great extent the case with the Astor and Pir Panjal markhor. In this respect it olFers a striking contrast to its not very distant cousin the Rocky Mountain goat, in which the summer coat is quite short. As the habitat of the tahr in summer is probably much warmer than that of the Rocky Mountain goat at the same season, the difference in the above respect seems inexplicable. The true tahr is a typical Himalayan animal, inhabiting the forest districts of the middle ranges of that chain from the Pir Panjal to Sikhim, and being especially abundant in the Lower Wardwan valley, the Kistwar district, and Chamba. Although it is very difficult to obtain accurate information as to the precise geographical limits of animals in Kashmir, so far as the writer is aware, the tahr does not occur in the mountains to the north of that valley, nor in the Kaj-nag range. Tahr inhabit, perhaps, the very worst ground on which it is possible for a large mammal to exist ; and it is to this that many sportsmen, including the present writer, owe the loss or destruction of some of their finest trophies (for, of course, lost specimens are always much superior to those safely bagged !). They are essentially forest animals, and generally prefer the steep slopes, more or less clothed with trees, to the bare mountain-tops, to which, however, they will occasionally wander. Till the autumn the old bucks keep apart from the herds during summer, generally ascending to a higher elevation. The pairing season occurs in winter, and the kids, of which there is usually but one at a birth, are dropped in June or July. The Nilgiri Tahr 125 THE NILGIRI TAHR {Hemitragiis hylocriits) Native Names. — Warri-adii^ or Warri-atii^ Tamil ; Kard-ardii^ Canarese ; Miilla-atu^ Malabari (Plate IV. Fig. 7) Although it has several local titles of its own, while it is commonly known to British sportsmen by the distinctly inappropriate name of Nilgiri ibex, the present species may be much more appropriately termed the Nilgiri tahr, since it is a comparatively near relative of the Himalayan species, with which, and a third form found in Southern Arabia, it constitutes the existing representatives ot the genus Hcmitragns. The isolated distribution of the present animal is exceedingly interesting, since it indicates that at some former epoch of the earth's history conditions must have obtained permitting the existence of tahr in the country between the Himalaya and the Nilgiris. In size the Nilgiri tahr is somewhat superior to its Himalayan relative, the bucks standing from 39 to 42 inches at the withers, although the does do not appear to exceed about 35 inches. From the Himalayan species the present animal is broadly distinguished by its generally short and stiff coat, by the very prominent convexity of the outer surface of the horns, and likewise by the presence of only a single pair of teats in the female ; the reason for the last-named point of difterence being very difficult to understand, since, as already mentioned, in the Himalayan tahr only a single kid is commonly produced at a time, and there never appear to be more than two. The face of the Nilgiri tahr exhibits a slight degree of concavity on the forehead and a corresponding tendency to convexity at the 126 Great and Small Game of India, etc. lower part of the nose. With the exception of being lengthened to form a low and stiff mane on the back of the neck and shoulders in the bucks, the hair is uniformly short, thick, and coarse throughout, probably exhibiting little or no difference between the summer and winter coats. Almost in contact at their bases, the horns of fully adult bucks are nearly parallel to one another for some distance, after which they become gradually divergent, their curvature forming a bold and regular sweep. Throughout their length they are marked by conspicuous transverse wrinkles, and while the inner surface is nearly in one plane, the outer surface is highly convex ; along the front inner angle runs a sharp keel, but the hinder surface is completely rounded off. The general colour of the hair may be described as dark yellowish brown, but greyer in the does and kids, with a dark streak down the middle of the back, and becoming distinctly paler on the under surface of the body. The old bucks are even darker than usual, being of a sepia-brown tint, which passes into blackish on the face ; they have a fawn-coloured ring round the eye, a grizzled grey streak down the side of the face, and a patch of the same colour behind the eye ; but their most conspicuous mark is a large grizzled white saddle-shaped area on the loins, which in very old bucks turns almost pure white. From this the patriarchs of the flock take their colloquial name of " saddle- backs." The legs, which are blackish brown in front and paler behind, are likewise more or less grizzled in old males. The largest horns of this species on record have a length of 17-^ inches along the front curve, with a basal circumference of 9I inches ; the corresponding dimensions of the second best specimen being 17 and 9I inches. Neither of these examples were, however, measured by Mr. Rowland Ward, the largest specimen that he has handled measuring i6f inches in length, and 8| in basal circumference; it forms an item in the magnificent series of Indian big game trophies The Nilgiri Tahr 127 collected by Mr. A. O. Hume. The largest female horns on record have a length of i2| inches, and a basal girth of 5^ inches. The Nilgiri tahr is an inhabitant of all the chief mountain ranges of Southern India, including the Nilgiris, the Anamalais, and the Western Ghats, from the latter chain nearly as far down as Cape Comorin. Although occasionally found at considerably lower levels, these goats are usually to be met with at elevations of between 4000 and 5000 feet above the level of the sea. Before it had been so much thinned by excessive shooting, the Nilgiri tahr was to be met with in llocks whose numbers commonly varied between half-a-dozen and half- a- hundred head ; while in rare instances, when two or more flocks had temporarily joined forces, the numbers might considerably exceed these. Although occasionally seen on the upland grassy plateaux so characteristic of the hills of South India, these goats prefer the scarps and crags above the level of the forest, where they graze on the patches of grass which occur in suitable spots. Their feeding-times are the mornings and evenings, the hottest hours ot the day being passed in repose and cud-chewing beneath the shelter of tall rocks. Some of the does act as sentinels, keeping watch and ward so vigilantly that to approach within range requires all the skill of the sportsman. There does not appear to be any definite breeding-season ; and it is stated that there are commonly two kids at a birth. If this be true, and also that the Himalayan species has usually but one, the smaller number of teats in the Nilgiri tahr is certainly a very remarkable fact. Leopards, and more rarely tigers, thin the flocks to a great extent ; while the numerous packs of wild dogs which hunt on the Nilgiris must likewise take their quota. Of recent years these animals have been specially protected by law ; and the writer has been informed by an officer stationed in Madras, that in consequence of these regulations their numbers are now steadily on the increase. 128 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE SUMATRAN SEROW ( Nemorhoedus sumatrensis) Native Names. — Tau-tshiek, Burmese ; Kambing-utan, Malay In the case of popular names of animals which, although originally applied to one species, have been subsequently expanded so as to include a group of more or less nearly allied forms, there is frequently a difficulty in deciding the limits to be employed in this more extended usage. And no better example of this difficulty exists than in the use of the term " antelope." Originally applied, as mentioned below, to the blackbuck of India, the name has been in later times used to denote a vast assemblage of horned animals which come under the denomination neither of cattle, sheep, or goats, and the only question is whether it should be still further extended so as to include the European chamois, the so-called Rocky Mountain goat, and the subject of the present notice. In the cylindrical form of their horns the serows are, indeed, much more similar to some of the antelopes than they are to any of the goats. But, on the other hand, in their clumsy build, heavy limbs, and stout hoofs, as well as in their habits, they undoubtedly come nearer to the goats. And, in order to express this dual relationship, they have been called by some writers goat- antelopes. That term is, however, a somewhat cumbrous and inconvenient one, and, on the whole, it appears preferable to call them by the name by which they are commonly known in the North- West Himalaya, viz. serow, or, correctly, sarao. And here it may be well to mention that as this name properly belongs to the Western Himalayan representative of the group, the reader may wonder why the Burmese animal (whose native name Kambing-iitan The Sumatran Serow 1 29 signifies wild goat) is not taken first. The reason is not far to seek. The two animals are evidently nothing more than local races of one and the same species ; and it happens that while the Malay form was scientifically described as early as the year 1801, the Himalayan animal was not made known to the scientific world till 1832, when it was described by Brian Hodgson, who was the fortunate discoverer of so many previously unknown animals and birds of the Himalaya. Consequently the scientific name of the Malay race, as the earlier, becomes the distinctive title of the species, so that this typical race demands priority of treatment. As already said, the serows are heavily built, ungainly, mountain ruminants, ot about the size of an average English donkey, with long, shaggy, coarse hair. They are specially distinguished by the circumstance that both sexes are furnished with horns v/hich display but little inferiority of size in the females as compared with the males ; and that these horns are comparatively short, conical, and marked in their lower portion by a number of low, closely approximated rings, and partially interrupted longitudinal grooves. In colour they are jetty black, and their direction is at first nearly coincident with the plane of the face, but towards the tips they curve slightly backwards, and at the same time diverge to a small degree from each other. Nine and a half inches is the maximum recorded length of the horns of the typical race of the Sumatran serow. In height the present animal stands about 34^ inches at the shoulder. In addition to its heavy and clumsy build, the serow is characterised by the proportionately large size of the head, and the large mule-like ears, as well as by the short and thickly-haired tail. Face-glands, opening by a small circular orifice below each eye, are present ; and the muzzle is bare and moist, like that of cattle. Glands are developed between the hoofs of all four feet, but there are none in the groin. The udder of the female is furnished with four teats. The upper cheek-teeth are generally I :;o Great and Small Game of India, etc. simihir to those of the sheep. The coarse and rather thin hair covering the head and body is of moderate length, but is developed so as to form a rather longer crest running from the nape of the neck to the withers. Since the colour of the Himalayan race of the species is described at some lengtli, it will sutHce to sav that the Sumatran, or eastern representative of the species is specially characterised by the lower part of the legs being rutous, instead ot white or grev, as well as by the more rufous tinge of tlie hair generally. Apparently also the size is not equal to that of the largest specimens of the Himalayan race, although small examples of the latter do not exceed the present form in this respect. Probably, however, there is a complete transition from the one race to the other, since some years ago a specimen was killed bv General A. A. Kinloch near Darjiling, which in point ot colour was intermediate between the two. The geographical range extends from the island of Sumatra through the elevated tracts ot the Alalav Peninsula, Siam, Burma, and Assam, to the Eastern Himalaya. It is commonly called the Burmese sero\\'. but as it is typically from Sumatra it is better indicated bv the name under which it is here given. It would be still better if another title could he invented for the species, and the local races denoted by their geographical designations. The name " serow " alone would not suffice, as there is a Japanese as well as a Formosan species of the genus. In habits the Sumatran serow is probablv identical with the Himalayan race, althouirh it inhabits somewhat lower elevations. Tibetan Serow — Arakan Serow 1 3 i THE TIBETAN SEROW [Nemorluvdiis sumatreiisis ini/rw-echvarchi) This representative of the species, which was originally described by the Abbe David from Moupin in Eastern Tibet, but subsequently recorded by Dr. J. Anderson from Yunnan, resembles the typical race in the rufous lower portion of the legs, but differs by the uniformly brownish-black colour of the upper-parts. There is also a woolly under- fur to the coat, which appears to be generally wanting in the other races. Dr. Anderson states that a horn of this serow is generally an indispensable adjunct to the shoulder-bag, or haversack of every Kakhyen, Shan, and Chinese peasant of Western Yunnan, from which it is suspended, and serves the purpose of a drill in repairing harness, etc. THE ARAKAN SEROW {Ncmorhc-ediis sumatrensis rubidits) Although generally regarded as identical with the typical race of the species, the Arakan serow appears entitled to be regarded as third local form, distinguished by the extremely red tinge of the coat. It appears also to be an unusually small form, but further information with regard to it is urgently needed. It was originally described, as a distinct species, by the late Edward Blyth, under the name of Capricornis rubuhi, in his Catalogue of the Bengal Asiatic Society's Museinn. 132 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE HIMALAYAN SEROW {Nemorhcedits sumat?\'nsis biibalimis) Native Names. — Sarao in the North -West Himalaya ; Rami/, Halj, Salabhir, Kashmiri ; Goa in Chamba ; Ah?n/ in Kunawar ; Tamu IN KuLu ; Tehr in Nepal ; Gya among the Bhotias of Sikhim ; Sichi OF the Lepchas (Plate V. Figs. 2, 2a) The Himalayan sportsman will often be deceived as to the nature of the game which he is pursuing, owing to the circumstance that the name used in one district to denote a certain species is applied in another to a totally different animal. An example of this confusion occurs in the present case, where the serow of the North- West Himalaya is termed tahr in Nepal, where the animal to which that title is restricted in works of natural history is known as jharal. On the other hand, in Chamba we find the serow figuring as the goa, a name properly pertaining to the Tibetan gazelle ; while in the Suleman range the name sarao is applied to the markhor, and in Sind to the wild goat. As mentioned above, the Himalayan serow is nothing more than a local race of Nemor/nrchis sitmatrensis, from the typical, or Sumatran form of which it is distinguished by the greyer tone of the whole pelage, and more especially by the circumstance that the lower parts of the legs are white or grey, instead of being of the same rufous tinge as the hair of the body. The height, too, is frequently greater than in any specimens of the Sumatran serow of which measurements are available, and the horns are often larger than in any recorded examples of the latter. The maximum horn-measurements recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward are as follows : length, The Himalayan Serow 133 12^ ; basal circumference, 6^; and tip-interval, 2| inches; these being taken from a Garhwal specimen in the possession of Mr. A. O. Hume. Next to this we have examples respectively measuring 12 and 11 inches in length, while there are five specimens on record varying between 10 and lo^ inches. The height of the animal at the shoulder apparently ranges between 33 and 37 or 38 inches, while its weight varies between 120 and 190 pounds. As regards colour, the Himalayan serow may be described as blackish or dark grey on the upper-parts, with a generally grizzled appearance, owing to the whitish bases of the hairs, the head and neck being black. On the flanks, buttocks, upper portion of the limbs, chest, and throat the black ot the back passes into rusty red, which in turn gives place on the under part of the body, the inner side of the thighs, and the lower portion of all four legs to dirty white or greyish ; the inside of the ears and the front and sides of the chin being likewise white, but of a purer tint. Frequently a black line down the back can be more or less clearly distinguished. The range of the Himalayan serow extends along the outer and middle Himalaya from Kashmir to the Mishmi Hills, at elevations between about 6000 and 1 2,000 feet. So far as the present writer is aware, in Kashmir the animal is only found on the south side of the valley in the Pir Panjal range, and it apparently does not cross the Jhelam into the Kaj-nag range. It occurs in Chamba, probably on the south side of the Chinab in Pangi, and certainly in Kulu and Nepal, as well as in the interior of Sikhim. As noticed under the heading of that race, it probably passes into the Sumatran form somewhere in the neighbourhood of Darjiling. Curiously enough, this race has also been recorded from Yunnan, in some parts ot which country the Sumatran form is likewise met with. Serow share with tahr the notoriety of frequenting the very worst ground the Himalaya can show ; and only those who have had practical experience can realise how bad this can be. Not only does a serow go 1 34 Great and Small Game of India, etc. across an almost perpendicular face of rock as easily as if it were horizontal, but it has a habit of choosing ground covered with slate debris, on which progress is most difficult to the sportsman. A solitary animal, and nowhere abundant, it is never found far away from wood, and often takes up its abode in thick forest, or scrub-jungle ; the description known as ringal- jungle, which is mainly formed by a long thin reed-like bamboo, being an especial favourite in the more Eastern Himalaya. Although the present writer has travelled over many miles of serow- country, he was never fortunate enough to come across one of these ruminants in the flesh. Good accounts of its habits are, however, given by General A. A. Kinloch in his Large Game Shooting in Thibet and the North-West, as well as by General D. Macintyre in the little sporting volume entitled The Hindii-Koh. From these accounts it appears that serow are in the habit of spending most of the day concealed among the gloomy recesses of the wooded precipitous gorges which form their favourite haunts, from which they usually issue to feed only in the evenings and early mornings, and even then wander but short distances from their headquarters. Shyness seems indeed to be one of the most characteristic traits of this animal, although when attacked or brought to bay, none displays greater boldness. As an illustration of this. General Macintyre states that when the follower of an English sportsman was proceeding to secure the body of a female serow that had been shot by his master, the male suddenly rushed out from some dense covert in which it had been concealed, and with one butt sent the unfortunate man rolling down the hill-side, without giving the chance of a fair shot to the astonished sportsman looking on. This instance shows that although serow are frequently seen alone, they may also be found in pairs. Very little difference in general appearance distinguishes the does from the bucks ; and as the former have nearly as large horns as the latter, they are legitimate game to the sportsman. When serow cannot be stalked on their The Himalayan Serow 135 feeding-grounds, they may sometimes be induced to break covert by driving, although not unfrequently the difficult nature of the country renders this method impracticable. When alarmed, the serow gives utterance to a series of sharp, shrill screams, or shrieks, repeated at short and regular intervals, and much resembling the cries of its smaller relative the goral. When first heard, they are decidedly alarming to the sportsman. Many species of ruminants when sud- denly surprised seem to "lose their heads" for a few seconds, and in the serow this momentary bewilderment is especially noticeable, the animal standing stock-still, as if dazed, and this, too, in some instances after it has been fired at. When, however, the animal has got over its bewilderment it starts ofi^ with a rush headlong down the pre- cipitous mountain-side, in a manner which generally renders pursuit altogether out of the question. Occasionally the alarm scream is uttered without any apparent cause. When wounded and charging, the eyes display a peculiar red gleam, which gives an almost fiendish appearance to the entire animal. Some difference of opinion exists in regard to the time when the ewes give birth to their progenv, Brian Hodgson stating that this takes place in September or October, after a gestation of eight months, whereas Leith-Adams gives the time as May or June. Apparently a single kid is produced at a birth. The serow has never been exhibited alive in England, and probably nowhere in Europe, even if it has been captured in India. Fig. 22. — Skull and Horns of Himala3'an Serow. From a specimen in the possession of Mr. A. O. Hume. 136 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE HIMALAYAN GORAL {JJrotragus goral^ Native Names. — Goral in the North- West Himalaya; P//, Pijiir, Rai AND Rom, Kashmiri ; Sah or Sar in the Sutlej Valley ; Siih-ging OF THE Lepchas ; Ra-giyii of the Bhots of Sikhim ; Deo Chagal in Assam (Plate V. Fig. 3) Owing to the well-known practice of applying the names of European animals to their more or less distant relatives in other countries, the goral is very generally known among sportsmen as the Himalayan chamois. But beyond the fact that it belongs to a group of ruminants in some degree serving to connect the antelopes with the goats, it has really very little in common with the chamois, from which it differs by its shaggy coat, as well as in its more sombre coloration, and in the form of its horns. It is, in fact, a near relative of the serows, from which it is mainly distinguished by the absence of glands on the face, and in certain details of the skull. Very generally the gorals are known by the name of Cemas, but, although earlier, that title has to give place to IJrotragiis. In most characters, such as the naked muzzle, the presence of glands in the feet, and of four teats to the udder of the female, as well as in the development of horns in both sexes, the gorals resemble the serows ; the absence of face -glands being the chief reason for referring them to a separate group. Very generally the tail is comparatively short (about 4 inches in the Himalayan species), but it attains a considerable length in the long- tailed goral [U. caudatus). As a rule, the gorals are smaller animals than the serows, but there is a species of the latter from Japan {Nemorha\ius crispiii) which is no larger than a goral. The Himalayan Goral 137 In all the gorals the short and insignificant-looking black horns, which are nearly as large in the does as in the bucks, are very similar to those of the serows, being conical and but slightly divergent, curving evenly back- wards, and marked for the greater part of their length by somewhat irregular, closely approximated rings, or ridges, which are partially interrupted by longitudinal groovings. The general form of the animal is Fig. 23.— Fc photograph by the Duchess of Bedford. also goat-like, with the limbs strong and stout. The hair, too, is rather coarse and shaggy, with a certain amount of woolly under-fur at the roots, and generally showing a tendency to develop into a slight crest along the back of the neck and at the bases of the horns. The Himalayan species stands from 26 to 28 inches in height at the withers, and weighs from about 58 to 63 lbs. As already said, it has a comparatively short tail. Its general colour is brown, showing a more or less marked individual tendency either to rufous or greyish, and with the 138 Great and Small Game of India, etc. under-parts but slightly paler than the back. The face is somewhat paler and more distinctly rufous than the back, but becomes darker nearer the horns ; the throat is white ; a black line runs down the front of each leg, and another from the nape of the neck along the back to the tail, which is likewise black ; and the lower parts of the legs, exclusive of the black streak in front, are rufous brown. The maximum recorded length of goral horns is S}, inches, one pair of these dimensions, from Bissahir, being in the possession of Major A. E. Ward, while a second (a female from Dal- housie) belongs to Mr. J. Johnston-Stewart. Three specimens measuring 8 inches in length are known, one of them having a basal girth of 3f inches, and an interval of 3^ inches between the tips ; two of these specimens are from Chamba, and the third from Kumaon. The Himalayan goral is an inhabitant of the outer and middle ranges of that chain of mountains from Kashmir to Bhutan, and is also said to occur in the Naga Hills, to the south of Upper Assam, while Mr. C. W. A. Bruce has shot young specimens in Upper Burma. ^ In Kashmir it is probably restricted to the ranges to the south of the valley ; in the Siwalik Hills it is represented to be far from abundant, but in most districts it is very common, and is not unfrequently found in the neighbourhood of hill-stations. The lowest elevation at which it occurs is about 3000 feet, and its highest range about 8000 feet. Never found away from forest, goral usually associate in small parties of from four to eight head, and where one is seen others are almost sure to occur ; old bucks are, however, solitary for the greater part of the year. Grass-clad hills, or ledges among steep cliffs, and rocky ground in the midst of forest form their favourite haunts ; and sometimes the country they frequent is so precipitous that a wounded animal will fall several hundred feet before its body finds a resting-place, General Macintyre mentioning 1 The Burmese goral may prove to he a distinct sub-species, but this cannot be ascertained until fullv adult specimens are available for comparison. The Ashy Goral 1^9 an instance where a goral he had shot fell headlong for a height of about 1000 feet. Like the majority of Himalayan ruminants, goral usually iced only in the mornings and evenings, taking a long s/esti/ thirnig tlic mid-day heat ; but on dull and cloudy days they may be seen abroad at all hours. The period of gestation is about six months, and the kitis, of wliich there is usually but one at a birth, are born during May and June. Being sucli an exceedingly common animal, it is somewhat surprising to find that up to the year 1896 only a single example of this goral had Ik-cii exhibited in the London Zoological Gardens. At Woburn Abbey there have, however, been numerous living examples, one of which is now mounted and exhibited in the British Museum. Li spite of the insignificant character ot the liorns as tropliies, goral- shooting has a considerable attraction for many Himalayan sportsmen, especially those who dislike the weary mid-day halts inse[->aral)le from most kinds of big-game stalking, or who object to sleeping out on the bleak hill-sides. As General Macintyre remarks: "On the precipitous and broken ground of the Middle Himalayan ranges this kiiul of stalking is perhaps one of the pleasantest descriptions of sport." When the goral are taking their mid-day nap, the sportsman can nearly always return to his tent for lunch ; and, in any case, he can make sure of a night in bed. In good localities blank days are, moreover, few and far between ; the writer last mentioned having bagged no less than sixty head of these game little ruminants during a single season's shooting. THE ASHY TIBETAN GORAL ( Urotragiis cinereus) This, like the next species, is one of the numerous species of animals discovered by the missionary. Abbe David, in the Moupin district of Eastern 140 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Tibet, and described by the late Professor Milne -Edwards of the Paris Museum. In the type specimen the horns measure yl inches in length. Compared with the next species the present animal is stated to be decidedly larger, and its fur is of a more nearly uniform colour, being more distinctly of an ashy tint, and less mingled with brown. More- over, the whitish areas on the under surface of the neck and on the feet are of smaller extent and less sulfused with yellow. More important than all is the greater length and bushiness of the tail, which is not inferior in these respects to the Mongolian long-tailed goral {U. caiidatus). The describer adds that he should have hesitated to distinguish this species from the next were it not for important differences in their skulls, that of the present animal, in addition to other points of distinction, being much more elongated. The two animals are stated to be recognised as different from one another by the natives of Eastern Tibet, who affirm that the present one lives at a higher altitude than the next. Both are distinguishable from the Himalayan goral by the character and colour of the pelage, as well as by their longer tails. THE GREY TIBETAN GORAL ( Urotragus griseus) Although it may seem somewhat curious to find two nearly allied species of the same genus inhabiting the same district, yet in the opinion of Professor Milne -Edwards this goral is entitled to specific distinction from the preceding ; and as a matter ot tact it is not uncommon to find a larger and a smaller representative of the same type of animal in one area. The present species, which inhabits the Moupin district of Eastern Great ii 48A- Upper arm .... 29 26 29 29 27I 26i 26i Forearm 21 19 i9i 20 20 20 Head +oi 36 39J 36i 38 37 38,^ Height at shoulder ++I 4.0 40 \o\ 38 36i 381 Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Weight S.0 S08 487 493 496 500 Of Number i the Maharaja writes that " this is undoubtedly the biggest and heaviest tiger I have shot or seen shot. Unfortunately The Tiger 285 I was unable to weigh him, as we had no scales out with us, but he must have weighed close on 500 pounds." So much literature has been devoted to the habits of tigers and tiger-shooting, that it would be little more than waste of space to recapitulate all the leading points in connection with the former subject, while the latter will be left entirely alone, as it is one of which the writer has no personal experience. Speaking generally, it may be said that, apart from certain minor differences according as to whether individual animals come under the designation of game- killers, cattle-lifters, or man-eaters, tigers are, as a rule, solitary and unsociable animals, although the male and female associate more closely during the pairing-season. Whether the union be permanent or temporary, it is certain that tigers are monogamous animals. When more than two tigers are seen in company, the party is usually, if not invariably, a family one. It has already been stated that tigers are far less noisy animals than lions ; but it has to be added that they are as fully nocturnal in their habits as the latter, and perhaps even more so. Impatience of the direct rays of the summer sun is indeed one of the most marked traits of the Indian tiger, and one, indeed, which strongly supports the view of its being a comparatively recent inhabitant of the more torrid portions of its present habitat. In this connection the writer may refer to another point (brought to his notice by a friend) which appears to afford further confirmation of the same view. This is the extraordinary length and thickness ot the fur of Indian tiger cubs — a provision against cold totally unnecessary in their present environment, which may well have been inherited from an ancestor whose home was in the bleak north. Water is essential to the well-being of these cats, and the necessity for frequent access to this element curtails their wanderings in the hot season, when pools are few and far between. But at other seasons 286 Great and Small Game of India, etc. tigers are great wanderers ; and it is a notable fact that when one tiger occupying a definite "beat" is killed, its place is almost im- mediately filled by a successor fi-om the neighbourhood. Grass jungles, swamps, and forests are alike the resort of tigers ; but, failing these, clefts or caves in rocks, ruined buildings, or dry nalas afford amply sufiicient shelter to the striped robber. Like the lion, the tiger is unable to climb trees ; but the presence of the latter animals in a district is always made evident by the marks of their claws on the tree-stems, which extend as high as they can reach when standing on their hind-legs. It might have been thought that, with all that has been written in regard to the habits of tigers, there were few points remaining in dispute. But there is still some degree of difference of opinion with respect to the manner in which they seize their prey. The popular idea that tigers spring upon their victims from a distance, and after killing them by a blow from one of the fore -paws, or by tearing at the throat with the cruel claws, suck their blood, was demonstrated by Mr. G. P. Sanderson, in 'Ihirtecn Tears among the Wild Beasts of Lhlia, to be altogether incorrect. From the accounts of natives (and how difficult it is to make accurate observations during the few seconds occupied by a tiger's rush must be self-apparent) that intrepid sportsman came to the conclusion that the tiger clutches the fore-quarters of his victim with his paws, one of which is generally thrown over the shoulder, while with his jaws he seizes the throat from below, and turns it upwards and over, so as to dislocate the vertebra; of the neck : sometimes giving additional weight to the wrench by jumping to the opposite side of the stricken animal. This explanation was for some time very generally accepted by naturalists; but in a communication to The Asian newspaper of 12th July 1895, Mr. F. A. Shillingford raised objections to certain details of the attack as described by Mr. Sanderson. The observations of Mr. Shillingford are as follows : — " Tigers, as a rule, always roar when The Tiger 287 charging or fighting in self-defence, but there are exceptions to the rule. In the latter case it would appear that a very savage tiger, in order to wreak his vengeance without fail on the intruders, lies low and attacks without warning. The well-known feint of an attack, termed by the natives bhagocha, made by tigers to demoralise a line of beaters, and thus effect an unchallenged retreat, is always accompanied by the loudest roar the tiger can call forth. It seems almost impossible to picture a tiger seizing by the neck from below without first closing with his victim. He must turn his neck round until his open jaws face upwards, in order to grip from below, and this can hardly be accomplished without the purchase of his paws on the shoulders, and this, in my opinion, is what occurs in the generality of cases. There are instances in which you see fang-marks, both at the back and in front of the neck, but the former, I take it, is a mere preliminary grip of an obstreperous victim, quickly followed by the fatal clutch below. That the tiger always breaks the neck I do not believe. . . . Let any one open the jaws of the skull of a tiger and then look at the neck of a full-fed buffalo, and he will see this. The expanse of the open jaws would only cover a bunch of the muscles of the neck, and with this grip it seems absurd that the animal could give the fatal wrench that dislocates the neck. In the case of a good bull- buffalo, such as are sometimes killed, it seems doubtful whether the neck of the aggressor, or the victim, is the tougher. That the necks of animals, especially cows, are often broken, may be due to the fall in the struggle, but the idea that tigers systematically set to wrenching their necks, appears to me untenable. That tigers approach their victims stealthily and without noise appears natural, but in the moment of victory, they may roar occasionally to terrify their prey into succumbing sooner. This was exemplified in the case of a planter, seated on an easy chair outside his bvingalow, being startled in his reverie by a loud roar to his left, and on looking round he saw some 500 yards off a tiger 288 Great and Small Game of India, etc. struggling with one of his bullocks in an open field. The tiger killed the bullock, and retreated into the jungle before guns could be got ready." A very remarkable, and apparently inexplicable difference between tigers and leopards is exhibited by the manner in which they break up their prey. A tiger invariably commences to devour his slain victim at the hind-quarters, whereas a leopard as unfailingly turns his attention at the commencement of his meal to the chest and fore-quarters. This fact is as well known to native shikaris as to European sportsmen. But credence is by no means to be given to all native ideas as to the habits ot tigers. It is, for instance, a common idea among them that when a tiger is stalking a herd of sambar or other deer, it will from time to time utter a cry like the call of deer, to which the intended victims will reply. Writing in the Zoologist for 1898, Colonel F. T. Pollok seems, indeed, inclined to give credence to this story, although it appears to bear the stamp of pure imagination. In the condition of their food tigers are by no means particular, and they have on several occasions been observed gorging themselves on putrid carcases, from which the vultures have been driven away by their appearance on the scene. In many cases, at least, they will also consume almost the whole of the animal which affords the meal, rejecting neither skin nor bones, except such of the latter as are too large or too solid to be devoured. Neither do they limit themselves to any particular kinds of animal as food, for tigers have been known to kill and eat bears, leopards, and even individuals of their own species. Colonel Pollok states, for instance, that he has known of several cases in Assam where, after a contest between two of these animals, the victor has made a meal off the body of the vanquished. An instance is also known of a tiger having killed a young individual of its own species over a dead bullock, and eaten the former in preference to the latter. One reason for regarding the tiger as a more active and powerful animal than the lion is that on The Tiger 289 every occasion when a contest has taken place in a menagerie between two of these creatures, it is always the tiger that has come ofF victorious. Man-eating tigers, which are generally females, are perhaps the most wary of all the members of the species. Although it is probable that some man-eaters have taken to their particular line from being disabled by old age from pursuing more active prey, it is quite certain that this is not the case with the majority, which are often in the pink of health and condition. Rather is the acquisition of the habit to be attributed to the boldness acquired by cattle-lifting tigers, who on some particular occasion summon up courage to attack the herdsman. Having once discovered how much easier it is to kill a man than a cow, such tigers ever afterwards practise man-eating to a certain extent, although only a limited number confine themselves exclusively to a diet of human flesh. Instances are on record where young elephants have been killed by tigers, but till recently it has not been thought possible that full-grown elephants could be destroyed by these marauders. In The Asian newspaper of 15th May 1900, a writer instances a case where, although the evidence is purely circumstantial, such a tragedy appears to have taken place. After first mentioning that he was disinclined to attach credit to the statements of the natives as to the manner in which the elephant in question came by its death, the writer says that, accompanied by some friends, he visited the spot where the encounter had taken place. His description of the scene that met his eyes is as follows : — " The place where the remains of the poor elephant lay showed plainly that a hard struggle had gone on there between the elephant and a tiger, or a couple of tigers for aught we knew. The high grass-jungle where the elephant was hobbled and let loose at night for grazing was trodden and trampled down to an extent of about 40 square yards. The elephant was hobbled, and therefore could not run away from its assailants, and its cries of distress and shrill trumpetings were heard by the villagers a couple 290 Great and Small Game of India, etc. of miles off. The rope hobbles were still on its legs, and the half-severed ear and the holes on the skin of its neck plainly indicated the attacks of a tiger, and left no doubt in my mind that the poor beast was cruelly done to death by a pair of tigers, which must have tackled her trom both sides at the same time, and buried deep their tangs in her jugular veins and finished her off quickly. The skin did not seem to have been injured much, and it laid like a pall or rather a tarpaulin, covering up the whole skeleton decently." The ordinary cry of the tiger is stated to be very similar to the lion's roar, but is much less frequently uttered than the latter, the former animal never standing and emitting roar after roar for an hour together after the fashion which has so often been described in the case of the lion in Africa. When suddenly surprised a tiger springs up with a loud " woof," while, when angered, it gives vent to a growl. Different from all of these is the hoarse guttural sound of a charging tiger, which is repeated two or three times during the short and furious rush. Although occasionally reaching as many as six, the number of tiger cubs in a litter usually varies between two and five, but two is the most common number, and three the next. In all cases of twins, the cubs are respectively male and female. Now it is a well-known fact that tigresses are numerically much more numerous than tigers, and it would be an interesting matter to ascertain whether, in the case of triplets, two of the cubs belong to the female sex. Even, however, if this should prove to be the case, it would seem doubtful if the occurrence of triplets is suffi- ciently common to account for the disparity in the numbers of the two sexes. The cubs require about three years to attain their full growth, the greater portion of this time being spent with the female parent, who does not appear to breed more frequently than every second, or possibly every third, year. It has been already mentioned that the reference to tiger-shooting in The Tiger 291 this place will be of the briefest. This sport may be divided into four main classes, namely, shooting from elephants, driving with beaters to sportsmen posted in trees, sitting up over the " kill " to await the return of the murderer, and walking up on foot. The last description is certainly the most dangerous, and probably therefore the most exciting sport, fatal accidents being only too frequent. The least exciting of the tour is the sitting up over the " kill," on a machan^ or platform, built in some convenient tree ; but where the forest is dense, or elephants are unobtain- able, it is frequently the only practical mode of procedure. In districts where beating is the custom, natives are usually very chary ot giving any information as to the whereabouts of "stripes," partly in order that they themselves may not be impressed to take part in the honk^ or drive, and partly also from the fear that if they do so, they will fall a victim either to the wounded tiger, if it escapes, or to its companion, upon whom the office oi vendetta is supposed to devolve. And here it may be mentioned that in many parts of India the natives will never mention the tiger by its proper title, but use some other term, as, for instance, the native name of the jackal. This is due to some superstition that the mention of the name will lead to the death of the speaker. Beating for tigers is much practised in Central and Southern India, where these animals are commonly found in densely-wooded ravines, ot which the banks are often high and precipitous. On the other hand, beating with elephants is chiefly employed in the tall grass-jungles ot the Terai and Assam, where any other mode of hunting would be almost impracticable. In the swampy Sandarbans of Lower Bengal, where the tigers lead a semi-aquatic life, they must either be walked up on toot, or shot from a iiiachan, unless, indeed, the sportsman is lucky enough to " pot " his game from a boat. 292 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE INDIAN LEOPARD [Fe/is pardiis) Native Names. — Chita, Sona-chita, Chita-bagh, Adnara, and 7 t7/,r/i£w, Hindu- stani ; Palaiig, Persian ; Diho, Baluchi ; &///, Kashmiri ; T'ldua and Srighas in Bundelkand ; Gorbacha or Borbacha, Deccani ; Karda, Asnea, Singhal, and Bibia-bagh, Mahrathi ; Tenderwa and Bihla among the Bauris of the Deccan ; Honiga and Kerkal, Canarese ; Tcoii-kiila of the Kols ; Jerkos among the Rajmehal Hill- tribes ; Burkal and Gordag of the Gonds ; Sonora of the Korkus ; Chiru-thai, Tamil ; Chinna-pali, Telegu ; Pali, Malabari ; Kiitiya, Cingalese ; Bai-hira, 'rehr-he, Goral-/u\ or Ghor-he of the Hill- tribes of the Simla District ; Sik, Tibetan ; Syik, Syiak, or Scjjiak OF the Lepchas ; Kajeiigla, Manipuri ; Misi-patrai and Kam-kei of the Kukis of the Mishmi Hills ; Hurrea-kon, Morrh, Rasa, Tekhu- Khiiia, AND Kekhi of the Nagas ; Kya-lak or Kya-thit, Burmese ; Klapreiing, Talain ; Kichc - pJiong of the Karens; Rimaii - bintang, Malay (Plate VIII. Fig. 3) Among the numerous instances of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper application and signification of names in natural history, perhaps no greater " muddle " exists than in the case of the large spotted cat whose scientific title is undoubtedly Felis pardiis. As is stated in the article " Leopard " in the ninth edition of the Eucyclopcedia Britannica, as well as in Mr. R. A. Sterndale's Natural History of Indian Mammalia, this animal was known to the ancients by the names of pardalis and panthera, which sub- sequently became Anglicised into pard and panther. At the same early date the animal now known as the hunting-leopard was designated leo- pardiis, or leopard, from the idea that it was a hybrid between the lion and The Indian Leopard 293 the pard. As time went on, the name " pard " gradually fell into disuse, and the term leopard became transferred from the animal to which it originally belonged to one of the varieties of Fe/is parous, panther being, however, still retained for another form of the same animal, on the supposition that there were two distinct species of these spotted cats. This transference of the name leopard to Felis pardus left the animal to which it originally pertained without a popular title of any kind. Accordingly the Hindustani name chita (meaning spotted or speckled) was made to do duty for the animal in question. Such a restriction is, however, quite unjustiliable, for although by the natives of India the latter title is applied indifferently to Fe/is pardus and Cynaluriis jiibatiis^ in almost ninety-nine out of every hundred occasions on which it is employed, the former animal will be the one designated. Sometimes, indeed, it may happen that if a native of India wishes to particularise the exact kind of chita to which he may be referring, he will distinguish Felis pardus either as sona-chita (golden chita), or as chita-bagh (spotted tiger), but on nearly all occasions chita suffices. The best way out of the double difficulty is to drop the use of the term chita altogether, and to call Cyna/urus jubatus the hunting-leopard, while the term leopard is assigned to Felis pardus. But here another difficulty presents itself The majority of Indian sportsmen are persuaded that, in addition to the hunting-leopard, there are two perfectly distinct species of large spotted cats, which they respec- tively call leopard and panther. And it is a matter for regret that the idea of the specific distinctness of the animals so designated has been supported by such a good naturalist as Mr. Sterndale. It may, however, be regarded as certain that the animals in question are at most but varieties of a single species, of which they not improbably indicate a larger and a smaller race. 1 To avoid hopeless confusion in this connection, it is almost essentia! to use the scientific names of the two animals. 294 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Accordingly, it is justifiable to use only a single English name for this species, although we may mark the occurrence of two races, if such really exist, by designating one as the lesser, and the other the larger Indian leopard, the name " panther " being allowed to fall, so far as possible, into oblivion. Having cleared the ground thus for, the next point is the definition ot the animal it is agreed to call the leopard I^Felis pardus). Briefly, it may be said that under this term are included all the varieties of large ring- spotted cats inhabiting the Old World, with the exception of the snow- leopard, of which the distinctive features are pointed out in the sequel. From the hunting-leopard, the present species, in addition to the difference in general bodily form and the structure of the claws, is broadly dis- tinguished by the circumstance that a large proportion of the spots on the back and sides are in the shape of large circular broken rosettes, whereas all those of the former animal are solid and smaller. The only other cat with which the leopard is the least liable to be confounded is the jaguar of the New World, which is recognisable at a glance by the presence of a small black central spot to each rosette, of which there is no trace in the leopard. In size the leopard, as might be expected from its wide geographical distribution, is a very variable species, the extremes of total length ranging from as little as five to as much as eight feet, or thereabouts. The general ground-colour of the upper-parts varies from olive through rufous to pale yellow or brownish yellow, and that of the under-parts from yellow to pure white. The black spots on the head and lower part of the limbs are always small and solid ; and such solid spots may be continued on to the neck and shoulders, as well as in a double line down the middle of the hinder part of the back, while the greater portion of the outer surface of the limbs may occasionally be solid-spotted. Over a larger or smaller extent of the upper surface of the body and outer side of the upper portion of the limbs the spots take the form of rosettes, consisting of a The Indian Leopard 295 black, and frequently interrupted external ring, and a pale centre, which may or may not be darker than the general ground-colour. On the under- parts the spots are solid, and often lighter-coloured than those of the back, being generally also much larger and more irregularly shaped than those on the head. On the upper surface of the tail the spots are elongated and light-centred ; but towards the tip of the upper surface they assume the form of broad transverse bars, the under svu-fice of the tail -tip being uniformly yellowish or white. Marked local ditferences in bodily form and in the length of the tail and hair are likewise noticeable, the Manchurian race being a much more heavily-built and longer-haired animal than the leopard of Bengal. The distribution of the leopard is very extensive, including the greater part of Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Syria, Palestine, Persia, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, a large part of Central Asia, India, Assam, Ceylon, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, China, Manchuria, Java and Sumatra. With this enormous geographical range, it is only natural to suppose that the leopard should be divisible into a considerable number of local races. And that this is the case may be regarded as certain, although unfortunately the specimens in our museums are at present insufficient to enable the determination and definition of such local races to be properly worked out. The iirst point in connection with an investigation of this nature is to determine the locality of the typical Fclis pardiis of Linnjtus, by whom the species was originally named. In the Systema Naturae the first reference is to the figure of an African representative of the species, and this might at first sight be taken to indicate that the typical leopard is the African form.^ But at the conclusion of his brief notice Linnaeus gives the habitat of the species as in ludis ; and since the description speaks of all the spots 1 This appears to have been the view taken by the French naturalist Temmincl:. 296 Great and Small Game of India, etc. on the upper surface being annulated, this accords much better with the Indian than with the African animal. African leopards are characterised by the spots being very numerous and of comparatively small size, and more especially by the circumstance that the whole or the greater portion of those on the fore part of the body — that is to say, about as far back as the hinder side of the shoulders — are in the form of irregular solid spots, the rosettes not making their appearance till behind the shoulder-blades.^ Frequently, too, these solid spots tend to continue for some distance down the middle line of the back ; and the great majority, if not the whole of the spots on the limbs, are of the solid type, although larger than those on the shoulders. These features are well displayed in the figure on page 297. As a rule, the middle line of the back is marked by a broad dark streak, and the centres of the rosettes are elsewhere not conspicuously darker than the general ground- colour. In a few skins the rosettes all over the body tend to break up into small irregular spots. It may be added that it is occasionally difBcult to decide whether a particular skin is Indian or African, although there is no difficulty at all in determining the locality of a series. Another important point is that there are no truly black leopards in Africa. Occasionally, however, specimens are met with on the high grounds of South Africa in which practically the whole of the rosettes are broken up into minute, widely separated spots, while the ground-colour is much darker than usual and the middle line of the back almost completely black. In one such specimen the semi-blackness of the back extends over the whole of the upper -parts, although the spots are still more or less distinctly visible. It may be added that African leopards appear to run comparatively small. In East African specimens the ground-colour of the skin is generally a light golden tawny, with the under- parts and the inner surfaces of the 1 Occasionally some of the spots in the region of the shoulders show small light centres. The Indian Leopard 297 limbs white. On the other hand, leopards from the moist forest region of the west coast are very much darker, the ground-colour of the upper- parts being olive-tawny, and that of the lower-parts yellow-tawny. Fig. 56.— Skin of Atricin K j ■,,A.) In the year 1777 pj-.xleben applied the name Fc/is Icnpardiis to the African leopard, and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it may perhaps be permissible to consider this form typified by the East African 298 Great and Small Game of India, etc. leopard, which should then be known (as being merely a variety of the species of which the Indian leopard is the type) as F. pardiis kopardiis. Admitting this, it next becomes a question whether the West African form should be included under the same sub-title. If we had only these two forms to deal with, the West African might certainly be separated as a distinct race. But since both forms agree in the general arrangement of their spots, and thereby differ from all the Asiatic representatives of the species, such a classification would not adequately express the relationships of the different modifications. It would, indeed, require a quadrinomial system to properly indicate such distinctions, but since this is not yet adopted in zoology, it seems better for the present to regard all the African leopards as belonging to a single race, of which the eastern form may be designated as FcUs pardus leopardiis, <-/, and the western as F. pardiis leopardi/s, b. Turning to Asia, it will be found that all Indian leopards have the spots larger, less numerous, and more widely separated than in the African animal, while the rosettes extend forwards on the back as far as the hinder region of the neck, and likewise reach some way down the upper region of the limbs. ^ In no case does the middle line of the back form such a conspicuously dark streak as in the African leopard, and in many skins there is no appreciable darkening in this region at all. Individual specimens, more especially in the Malay countries, are, however, com- pletely black, so that the spots and rosettes are visible only in certain lights. Frequently the centres of the rosettes on the back are appreciably darker than the general ground-colour. As regards the length of the fur and the thickness of the tail, Indian and African leopards are very similar, the fur on both body and tail being short and close. These differences are amply sufficient to justify the separation of the ' These features are well shown in the figures of Chinese leopard skins on pp. 16 and 17 of Dr. Bonavia's Sti/rHfs in the Ei'o/i/tio/i of Atiiviah. The Indian Leopard 299 Indian leopard as a race apart from the African representative of the species, and as it has ah'eady been shown that the Indian leopard is the Fig. 57. — Skin of Indian Leopard. (From Dr. Bonavia's Studies in the Evolution of Animals.) typical representative of the species, its full title will be Felis pardiis typica. But, as has already been indicated, Indian leopards are by no means all precisely alike (although differing in all the above features from their 300 Great and Small Game of India, etc. African relative), sportsmen recognising a larger form, which they call panther, and a smaller one, to which they restrict the title leopard. It appears that the lesser Indian leopard, which is the one generally met with in the plains of Peninsular India, is characterised by the relatively small size of the rosettes, the pale tint of the ground-colour, and the absence of darkening in the central area of the rosettes, these features being generally accompanied by a greater length of tail and a shorter head. On the other hand, in the larger Indian leopard, which is generally found in the damp forest regions of Bengal, Assam, the Terai, Burma, and probably the Malay countries, the ground-colour of the fur tends to reddish, the central areas of the rosettes are darker than the rest of the fur, and the tail is relatively short and the head long. A mounted example of this torm is exhibited, in a crouching attitude, in the British Museum. Although in a large series of specimens it may be difficult to assign individual skins and skulls to one or the other, if the two forms are, as a whole, distinguishable and restricted to particular localities, they are undoubtedly entitled to recognition. But in view of what has been said with regard to the two colour-phases of the African leopard, there are inconveniences in the way of regarding them as races. Accordingly, it is proposed to include them both under the title of Fclis paniits typica, taking the larger form, which may be designated a., as the type of that race, and distinguishing the smaller animal as h. The above-mentioned mounted specimen may be taken as a typical representative of the larger form of the Indian race, and therefore of the species. The Indian leopard, as already mentioned, probably extends into the Malay countries and the south of China. In Baluchistan, Persia, etc., it is replaced by a distinct race, of which the characteristics are given under a separate heading. In Manchuria the species is represented by an extremely different race [F. pardiis fontaiiieri), which presents features analogous to those of the Manchurian tiger, as compared with its Bengal The Indian Leopard 301 relative. The Manchurian leopard, of which a tine mounted example is exhibited in the British Museum, is much more distinct than either of the other local races of the species, presenting, indeed, the extreme ot divergence from the small-spotted African race. In its general massiveness of build the Manchurian leopard is indeed very similar to the tiger of the same region, having stout and somewhat clumsy limbs, a relatively short and broad head, and long and thick fur. Fin. 58. — liidiiin Leopard. Another analogy to the Manchurian tiger is presented by the type ot colora- tion, the spots being very much larger and more widely separated trom one another than is the case with the Indian leopard. The ground-colour of the fur is very pale sandy, but the light centres of the rosettes, especially on the back, are very much darker than the general body-colour. The solid spots of the head are continued on to the region of the shoulders, and thence down the whole of the fore-limbs, similar solid spots reappearing on the hind-legs. These large spots are widely separated from one another, and nearly circular in shape, and are thus markedly 302 Great and Small Game of India, etc. different from the small, closely-crowded, and irregular solid spots on the fore-quarters of the African leopard, while they are equally different from the annulated spots occurring in the same region of the Indian race of the species. The dark rings are, in fact, much less broken up than in either the Indian or the African race. A leopard skin from Shensi, Northern China, recently presented to the British Museum by Father Hugh, seems to be intermediate between the Manchurian and large Indian race. It has the long hair and thick tail of the former, but resembles the latter in the rich tawny ground-colour of the fur, and also in the prevalence of rosettes, especially on the hind-quarters. Black leopards, it may be observed, are not entitled to be regarded as a distinct race, being only specially coloured individuals of the larger Indian leopard, which, as already mentioned, is the form found not only in Bengal but apparently also in Burma and the Malay countries. Hot, moist forest districts are indeed those most favourable to the development of melanism among leopards, Travancore and the south of India generally being the regions on the west of the Bay of Bengal where these " sports " are most common, while to the east they are still more abundant in Lower Burma and the Malay countries. In a paper contributed to the Zoologist for 1898 Colonel F. T. Pollok suggests that the reason for the prevalence of melanism in the latter district is that the leopards there habitually prey on gibbon apes, and that their sombre coloration renders them more inconspicuous than if they were spotted. He even goes so tar as to say that under such conditions a leopard of the ordinary colour would starve. But this implies that all Malay leopards are black, which is certainly not the case ; and it is also more than doubtful whether, in the case of an animal creeping along the arm of a tree, a uniformly black colour would not be more conspicuous than the ordinary spotted coat of the leopard. A white (albino) leopard has been recorded by Buchanan Hamilton. The most essential difference between the habits of the leopard and The Indian Leopard 303 the tio-er is the facility with which the former animal can ascend trees ; indeed, in some of the forest districts where its prey consists largely of monkeys, it may become an almost completely arboreal creature. This arboreal habit renders the leopard a more cunning animal than a tiger, since, when approaching a " kill," it is stated to invariably scan the boughs above, whereas a tiger only does this when it has learnt caution from having been fired at from above on a previous occasion. It has been already mentioned that whereas a tiger always commences its meal by tearing at the hind-quarters of its victim, a leopard begins operations on the fore-quarters and viscera. Leopards are on the prowl for prey throughout the night, dogs being their favourite victims in the neighbourhood of human habitations, while, as already said, in many forest districts they subsist chiefly on monkeys of various kinds. When a leopard takes to man-eating, it is even more to be dreaded than a tiger with similar propensities, since it will frequently not hesitate to burst through the frail walls of native huts and seize the inhabitants as they lie asleep. Colonel Pollok tells us that in certain portions of the Nizam's dominions the average deaths from man-eating leopards reached one per ificm, while in others they were as many as two daily ! Even shikaris posted on platforms [inac/uins) in trees have been carried off" by the stealthy approach from behind of the very animals tor which they were lying in wait. In many parts of India the favourite haunts of leopards are rocky, scrub-clad hills, containing numerous clefts and caverns, in which they make their lairs. Water is much less essential to their well-being than is the case with the tiger, and they are not unfrequently found in completely dry districts in India, while in Somaliland they commonly dwell in such situations. In India, at any rate, these animals are generally found in pairs, and the cubs are born during February or March, the number in a litter being usually from two to four, although Colonel 304 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Pollok states that he has heard of as many as seven. It is a curious fact in connection with leopard cubs that the spotting is much less distinct than in the adult, the general colour being brownish. This is precisely the reverse of what occurs in the lion. As a rule, the leopard is a silent animal, although when charging it utters a short growl. Those best conversant with its habits in a state of nature state, however, that when on the prowl it occasionally gives vent to a harsh cry, quite different to the roar of a tiger, and somewhat intermediate between a grunt and a cough. Although leopards were at one time hunted by the troopers of the Central Indian Horse by beating them out from patches of sugar-cane during the rainy season with the aid of a pack of dogs and then spearing them, while they are often speared by parties of two or three mounted Europeans, the more general plan is either to watch for them by night in a machan over a tethered bait or a "kill,"' or to drive them from covert with a line of beaters. Machan-shooting is weary work, and requires a large stock of patience on the part of the lonely watcher. As leopards usually go in search of water between seven and eight in the evening, and again between five and six in the morning, it is at such times that they most frequently approach the bait, the majority of tethered baits being seized between the time of sunset and an hour after. In the dim twilight the spots of the leopard harmonise so exactly with the speckled shade ot the surrounding foliage that, unless the watcher makes the best use ot his eyes, the marauder will be only too likely to have sprung upon the bait before its presence is even suspected. The following hints on machan-shooting are given by an anonymous writer in 7'//c Asian newspaper of 27th February i 900 : — " If you have had a kill, go early to your machan^ and take the pre- caution to have the kill securely tied or hung to some fixed object, or you may find the panther carry it off without giving you a chance. The Indian Leopard 305 " If you are to sit over a live goat, see first that the ?nachan is so constructed as to give you the advantage of rising ground if there be any. Take care that the rope of the goat is not too long, or you will find it perhaps diflicult to get a shot from your circumscribed look-out hole. If there is a little moonlight expected after dusk, try and arrange your machaii so as to have the light falling from behind you on to the goat. Recollect the shadow cast by the moon. It is not always easy to distinguish the shadow from the substance of the goat, and the same is of course true of the panther. Take your time in aiming, and if the panther is inextricably mixed up with the goat, wait. Eventually the panther will conquer the goat and give you a steady shot while sucking the blood from the neck. " Don't fancy the panther will not come, once you have made up your mind to sit up. Some are exceedingly crafty and suspicious, and do not fail to observe the goat most carefully. Often the goat ceases bleating simply from an access of fear ; it has seen, heard, or scented the panther. You will often see it, after standing or lying carelessly, suddenly assume a rigid position, gradually moving its head round, and sometimes by the action of its legs unmistakably indicating that the foe is about. The goat will sometimes stamp on the ground and emit little snorts. Ot course occasionally this may only indicate a hysna, or a pig, or the insignificant mongoose, or a hare, but never neglect such indications. " As to using slugs, I think you will do well to have a smooth-bore loaded with buck-shot. But stick to your rifle to the last possible moment. Slugs do not always penetrate between the ribs and reach a vital part, and they seldom leave a bloody trail. I have rarely found my •500 Express fail even when it was impossible to see the sights." 3o6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE PERSIAN LEOPARD [Fe/is par d Its pant her a) (Plate VIII. Fig. 4) In his work on the animals of Russia and Asia, pubhshed in 181 1, Pallas gave the name of Felis panthera to the leopard of the Caucasus. And although he did not clearly distinguish it from the true F. pardus of Linnseus, with which indeed he appears to have regarded it as identical, yet according to modern usage his name is entitled to stand for the Persian and Caucasian race of the leopard. The name of this form will conse- quently be Felis pardus panthera. It should be added, however, that in 1856 the French naturalist Valenciennes gave the name of Felts titlliana to the Persian leopard (ignoring the priority of the name panthera ^) ; and in consequence of this the race has been very generally known as F. pardus tulliana. If it were possible to distinguish the Caucasian from the Persian leopard (which does not seem to be the case), the name F. pardtts panthera would of course stand for the former and F. pardus tulliana for the latter. The geographical range of the Persian leopard appears to extend from the Caucasus and Anatolia through Persia and Baluchistan to the hills of Sind. The animal may be distinguished from the Indian leopard by its much longer fur, thicker tail, and certain details of coloration, being in these respects to a considerable degree intermediate between the latter and the snow-leopard. A fine skin of this race from the Caucasus was described by the present writer in the Zoological Society's Proceedings for 1899 ; the description being accompanied by a coloured plate of the animal. From the small size of this plate the animal does not, indeed, appear very markedly ditferent from an ordinary Indian leopard, but when skins of the two are ^ Mr. Sterndalc proposed to call the larger Indian leopard F. panthera, which is totally unjustifiable. The Persian Leopard 307 laid side by side, the distinction is very apparent. Compared with an Indian leopard's skin the Caucasus specimen is at once distinguishable by the irregular formation and small size of the rosettes, in which the centres are not appreciably darker than the general ground-colour, as they are in the larger form of the Indian race. From the head to the shoulders the spots are solid, somewhat like those of the African leopard. The fur, which is relatively long all over the body, becomes still more markedly so on the under surface of the body, where it is pure white, with solid elongated spots of large size, but widely separated from one another. In this respect the specimen is decidedly nearer to the Indian than to the African race, in the latter of which the spots on the under surface of the body are generally so large as to leave only a network of light ground between them. In the double line of solid elongated black spots down the middle of the hinder half of the back, there is, however, an approximation towards the African type. The very long and bushy tail, the terminal third of which is black and white only, is strikingly like that of the snow- leopard. It is a matter of some interest to ascertain in what part of India the Persian race is replaced by the Indian, and likewise whether there is a complete gradation between the two. The writer has in his own posses- sion a leopard-skin purchased in Kashmir which is evidently nearer to the Persian than to the Indian race, but which may indicate a partial transition between the two. Observations on the coloration and length of the hair in Kashmir leopards would therefore be of much interest to naturalists. A fine mounted specimen of the Persian leopard, obtained from Astrabad, in Persia, and presented by Colonel Beresford-Lovett in 1882, is now ex- hibited in the British Museum. In the thick and furry tail, as well as in general coloration, it presents a marked contrast to the crouching specimen of the larger Indian leopard, mounted by Rowland Ward, exhibited in the lower part of the same case. 3o8 Great and Small Game of India, etc. THE OUNCE, OR SNOW-LEOPARD [Fe/is iiiiciii) Native Names. — lkm\ Zig, Sachak^ and &//, of the Bhotias of Tibet ; Bharal-he of the Hill-tribes north of Simla : Thiirwagh in KUNAWAR (Plate VIII. Fig. 5) Although often confounded by sportsmen with the long-haired Persian race of the true leopard, the snow or white leopard is a perfectly distinct species ; it was formerly regarded as a very rare animal, but skins may now be frequently seen in the windows of the London furriers, and a few years ago an adult living specimen was exhibited for some time in the Zoo- logical Society's Menagerie. By Anglo-Indian sportsmen the animal is almost invariably designated the snow-leopard ; but by the older travellers and naturalists it was commonly termed the Ounce or Onza^ — names said by Buffon to be corrupted from Lynx or Li/nx, of which animal the present species was supposed to be a near relative. The same name occurs again in the scientific title of the jaguar, Fc/ls onca. The name Bharal-he, bestowed on the snow-leopard by the hill-tribes to the northward of Simla refers to its partiality for the mutton of the blue sheep or bharal. The snow-leopard is specially characterised by the length and thickness of the fur, which attains its maximum development on the tail. The ground-colour of the fur is white, and the black spots, except on the head, are larger and more ill-defined than in the leopard, forming large inter- rupted and somewhat irregular rosettes, with the light area inside each ot a somewhat darker tint than the general ground-colour. On the head and limbs, as well as in the terminal third of the tail (where they form rings) the spots are solid, that is to say, without light centres ; and on the under Fig. 59. — Skin of Snow-Leopard. 3IO Great and Small Game of India, etc. surface of the body they are comparatively few, and these somewhat ill- defined. A dark longitudinal streak runs from near the middle of the back to the root of the tail ; and the black external surfaces of the ears are each marked by a large yellowish spot. In height the snow-leopard stands about 24 inches at the shoulder ; and, although precise dimensions are very difficult to obtain, its total length would appear to range between 6 and 7 feet, or perhaps rather more. In a specimen of which the total length is 6 feet minus half an inch, the tail measures 36 inches ; but this appendage has also a similar length in an example of which the entire length is 6 feet 4 inches. The skull, which measures from 6 to 7 inches in length, can be readily distinguished from that of the leopard by the more swollen palate, and the shorter nasal bones, approximating in the latter respect to the cranium of the lion. The snow-leopard, as its name implies, is essentially an inhabitant of high mountains, and is found on all the elevated ranges of Central Asia, occurring not only in the neighbourhood of the snowy range of the Himalaya, as well as in Ladak and Tibet, but extending in a north-westerly direction to Gilgit, Hunza, and Nagar, and being likewise met with in Turkestan, Trans- Baikalia, Amurland, and North-Western China. Its reported extension into Persia is, however, more than doubtful, and its alleged occurrence in the Caucasus is due also to specimens of the Persian variety of the leopard having been mistaken for this species. Although usually found at elevations above 8000 feet (and probably ascending to 18,000 or 20,000 feet), in winter it descends as low as about 6000 in the Gilgit district. Beyond the fact of its living for the most part in open, and frequently snow-clad country (for which its coloration is doubtless specially adapted), there does not appear to be much calling for special mention in the habits of this species, although it must be acknowledged that our information on this subject is far from being as full as is desirable. Comparatively few The Clouded Leopard 311 specimens are seen by European sportsmen, and still fewer bagged. The present writer once had a good view of one of these animals ascending a hill at some distance off in Ladak, and Mr. Darrah relates how on one occasion in the same district he suddenly came across a snow-leopard lying on a rock, although only the head and a portion of its thick tail were visible. This animal had recently killed a bullock, of which the carcase lay near by, and, after the manner of the Indian leopard, it returned to the " kill " in the evening, although Mr. Darrah was not fortunate enough to add its skin to his trophies. Away from the neighbourhood of human habitations the prey of the snow -leopard comprises bharal, shapu, young argali, ibex, and probably an occasional chiru and goa gazelle. Near villages, however, or in the vicinity of Tatar encampments, the animal turns its attention to domesti- cated sheep, goats, ponies, and occasionally, as in the instance mentioned above, cattle. Whether it displays the same partiality for dog-flesh as the ordinary leopard, is not recorded, but if so it must have some difficulty in gratifying its taste, as the mastiffs which guard Tibetan encampments and villages, and are the only dogs in the country, are awkward customers for even a leopard to kill and carry off. THE CLOUDED LEOPARD [Felis nebiilosa) Native Names. — Pi/ngmar and Sarchack of the Lepchas ; Zik of the LiMiiu OF Nepal ; Ki/ng of the Bhotias ; Lamchitia of the Khas tribe of Nepal ; Thit-kyou/ig, Burmese ; Arimau-da/um, Malay (Plate VIIL Fig. 6) A much rarer animal than the last is the beautiful but considerably smaller cat commonly known as the clouded tiger, although better desig- 312 Great and Small Game of India, etc. nated by the title given above, unless its Malay name (meaning " tree- tiger") is preferred. Indeed most of what is known of this species in the wild state is derived from native sources, which are frequently more or less unreliable, but it appears to have been seen in its natural haunts by Mr. Charles Hose in Borneo. The clouded leopard is indeed essentially a Malay animal, inhabiting the Malay Islands and Peninsula, and thence extending through Burma into Assam and the Sikhim and Nepal Himalaya. Consequently the Indian sportsman has but comparatively little opportunity of invading its haunts. The species has a special claim on the interest of the naturalist on account of the unusually great relative length of its upper tusks, or canine teeth, which in this respect come nearer to those of the extinct sabre-toothed tigers [Mac/uvrodiis) than is the case in any other living member of the cat tribe. In size the clouded leopard may be compared to a very small specimen of the common leopard, its total length ranging between 6 and 6^ feet, of which from 2 feet 6 inches to about 3 feet is taken up by the long and thickly haired tail. The coloration may be regarded as a modification ot the type found in the snow-leopard ; for if we imagine the dark rosettes of the latter diminished in number and greatly extended in size, so as to form large blotches with dark margins and centres of a somewhat deeper shade than the general ground-colour, we should have the " clouded " pattern met with in the present species. The ground-colour ot the fur is some shade of pale yellowish-grey, upon which are the dark blotches or patches, which exceed a couple of inches in diameter, and are frequently edged in part, especially on the hinder border, with black. In aged individuals the blotches themselves tend more or less completely to disappear, leaving little or nothing more than their broken black margins. The upper surface of the head is ornamented with solid black spots ; and two broad black bands, separated by narrower streaks or rows of elongated spots, run The Golden Cat 313 from the ears to the shoulders, to be continued as more or less ill-defined lines of oval spots along the middle of the back. The cheeks have the two black stripes so common among the smaller cats, and the margins of the upper lip may be also black, while the black of the outer surface of the ear is frequently relieved with a central grey spot. The tail is ornamented with a series of dusky rings, frequently imperfect on the sides, and connected along the upper surface of the basal portion by a dark longi- tudinal stripe. As already mentioned, the tail is typically of great relative length — frequently nearly as long as the head and body — but in the island of Formosa there is a much shorter-tailed race of the species, known as Felis nebulosa brachyurus. As is indicated by its Malay name, the clouded leopard is an arboreal animal; and its food appears to consist of small mammals and birds, tor which it lies in wait on the branches of trees. In Borneo it occurs both on the plains and in the mountains up to an elevation of 5000 feet, and in the Himalaya it does not appear to range higher than about 7000 feet. If taken young, it can be easily tamed, and it has been several times exhibited in the London Zoological Gardens. The marbled cat {Felis marmorata), of the Eastern Himalaya, which may be described as a miniature replica of the present species, can scarcely claim to be regarded as a game animal. THE GOLDEN OR BAY CAT [Felis temminck'i) As being a larger animal than the one just mentioned, as well as from its peculiar type of coloration, the golden cat can scarcely be passed over without a brief notice. Of rather inferior size to the clouded leopard (length of head and body 31 inches, of tail 19 inches), this species is 2 s 314 Great and Small Game of India, etc. specially distinguished by its uniformly coloured coat, which, except on the face, lacks both stripes and spots. The colour varies from bright rusty red to dark brown or grey, the cheeks and forehead being streaked with white and brown, and faint traces of spotting occasionally showing themselves on the Hanks and the under surface of the body. The geogra- phical range of this cat extends from Nepal and Sikhim, in the Eastern Himalaya, at moderate elevations, through the hills of Tippera, to Burma, and so on by way of the Malay Peninsula to Borneo. A skin of the grey phase of this species, shot in Upper Burma, has been recently presented to the British Museum by Mr. C. W. A. Bruce. THE FISHING-CAT [Fclis viverriua) Native Names. — Baiibira/, Barcken, Khupya-hagh^ and Bagh-chisha, Hindu- stani ; Mach-bagral, Bengali ; Haiuiun-dha^ Cingalese (Plate VIII. Fig. 7) It has often been a matter of speculation why the ordinary domesticated cat should display such a marked partiality for a fish diet, and yet be so averse to wetting its feet. And the problem is rendered no easier of solution by the fact that the present species (which slightly exceeds its domesticated relative in size) is endowed with the same taste, and has no hesitation in taking the necessary steps to gratify this desire. Nor has this iishing habit escaped the notice of the natives of India, its Bengali name being the equivalent of its English title. The fishing-cat is a spotted species of somewhat larger dimensions than the under-mentioned leopard-cat, from which it differs by the grizzly grey fur of the body being marked by longitudinal lines of partially The Leopard-Cat 315 connected dark brown spots, replaced on the hind- quarters by smaller black spots. The short and bushy tail, which is about one-third the length of the head and body, is marked on its upper surtace by transverse bars of dark brown. Very characteristic of the species is the narrowness of the nasal bones of the skull, which form a sharp ridge. This cat, which also inhabits the south of China and the island ot Formosa, is found in Ceylon, India, Lower Burma, and Tenasserim. In India it has been recorded from the Indus Valley, the outer Himalaya, Nepal, Assam, and Bengal, and it may possibly occur also on the coasts of Malabar and Travancore, although it appears to be absent from the Central Provinces. Its fish-catching propensities have been already alluded to, and in order to exercise these the species generally takes up its residence in marshy situations, on the banks of swamps and rivers, where it also feeds on the large molluscs known as Ampiillarne. In spite ot its comparatively small bodily size, it is a vicious creature, frequently levying toll on the poultry and such of the domesticated quadrupeds ot the natives as it is able to destroy. THE LEOPARD-CAT {Felis beiigalensis') Native Names. — Chita-hi/la (spotted cat), Hindustani ; Ban-biral, Bengali ; Wagati. among the Mahrathas of the Ghats ; 'riiit- kyoung, Arakanese ; Kye-thit, Thit-kyiik^ and Kya-gyiik, Burmese ; Kla-hla OF the Talains and Karens ; Riwau-akai\ Malay (Plate VIII. Fig. 8) Of all the smaller Indian felines the pretty little leopard-cat is perhaps the most abundant and most generally distributed. Compared with the 3i6 Great and Small Game of India, etc. fishing-cat it is a smaller and more " leggy " animal, being, in fact, some- what inferior in size to an ordinary domestic cat, but with proportionately longer limbs. As regards colour and markings it is extremely variable, and consequently very difficult to describe ; but since there is no other species with which it is liable to be confounded, such description need not, on the present occasion, be very detailed. Speaking generally, it may be said that the ground-colour of the fur of the upper-parts varies from yellowish grey to bright yellow ; upon this are dark brown spots and streaks, which also extend on to the white under-parts, the extremity of the long tail being marked by black transverse bars. The majority of the dark markings take the form of more or less elongated spots, but there are a couple ot dark bars on the inner side of each torearm, as well as two hori- zontal cheek-stripes, of which the lower may be joined with a horizontal throat-band, while there may be other more or less ill-defined stripes across the lower part ot the throat and chest. On the forehead two pairs of longitudinal stripes run backwards over the head to the hinder part of the neck ; and the middle pair of these stripes, which may be separated for some distance by other markings, are frequently continued down the back as a double row of spots. In addition to these dark markings, there is very generally a white streak running from the inner side of each eye to the forehead ; and likewise a large whitish spot on the outer surface of each ear, the remainder of which is black. From 22 to 26 inches is the general length of the head and body of this pretty little cat, while that of the tail varies between 11 and 12 inches, or sometimes a little more. Doubtless this very widely-spread species will eventually be found to be divisible into several local races or sub-species, of which it is highly probable that more than one may be found in India itself. And, indeed, as a matter of fact several names have already been proposed for different colour-phases of this highly variable cat. Such distinctions will have, however, but little, if any interest, for the average sportsman, and may Pallas's Cat 317 accordingly, on this occasion, be dismissed without further notice. It may be added, however, that in Southern India and Ceylon there is a smaller but perfectly distinct species known as the rusty-spotted cat [Fe/is rubig'niosd). In addition to the circumstance of having one pair of teeth less in the upper jaw, the latter species is distinguished from the leopard- cat by the circumstance that the middle pair of the four longitudinal dark streaks on the forehead are continued as two simple slightly divergent lines or rows of spots between the shoulders, whereas in F. hengalensis there are never these two lines alone ; moreover the upper surface of the tail is devoid ot spots in F. ruhiginosa. In addition to an extensive range in China and the Malay countries, the leopard-cat extends from Burma through Assam to India, where it is found from the foot of the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, although apparently unknown in Ceylon. If its absence from the latter island be a tact, the species would appear to be a member of the Malay fauna which has entered India at a comparatively recent epoch. It is to a great degree a nocturnal and arboreal animal, frequently taking up its quarters in a hollow tree, and feeding upon small mammals and birds. Its disposition is extremely savage and spiteful. PALLAS'S CAT {Felis manul) The wild cat inhabiting the arid deserts of Ladak and Tibet, and thence northwards through Mongolia to Siberia, is a species agreeing approximately in size with the preceding, but differing from all others met with in the area of which the present volume treats by its thick coat of long and soft fur, and short tail. The general colour of the fur is pale whitish or yellowish grey, with a few indistinct dark markings on the 3i8 Great and Small Game of India, etc. head and upper portions of the hmbs, and some more clearly defined but widely separated narrow black transverse barrings across the hind-quarters, the tail being likewise ringed with black. From behind each eye a white streak, between a pair of black ones, runs downwards and back- wards, and behind each ear is a black mark. The under-parts are white. About 2 1 inches is the usual length of the head and body, and that of the tail lo inches. Unlike the majority of the smaller cats, which dwell in forest or jungle, the present species makes its home among barren rocks, in the crevices of which it rears its offspring. Its prey comprises various small mammals and birds, especially the rodents known as picas. Its thick fur affords an adequate protection against the intense winter cold of its habitat. THE INDIAN JUNGLE-CAT [Fe/is chaiis ajfinis) Native Names. — Jang/l-bil/i, Hindustani ; Khatas, Hindustani and Bengali ; Bcitnbera/, Bengali ; Gitrha-i-kuhi^ Persian ; Baul and Bhaoga, Mahrathi ; Berka of a hill-tribe in Rajmehal ; Mant- bek, Canarese ; Kada-bek and Bella-bek, Wadari ; Kata-piiiicfi, Tamil; Ji/rka-pi///', Telegv ; Cberr//-pi///, Malabarese ; Kyoung-tset- kiiii, Arakanese (Plate VIII. Fig. 9) The jungle-cat is a widely-spread species of the genus Felis, ranging from North Africa and the Caucasus through Syria, Palestine, Transcaspia, Asia Minor, Persia, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, to India, Ceylon, Assam, Burma, and the north-west of China. In size it somewhat exceeds an ordinary domestic cat, and it may be very easily distinguished from all The Jungle-Cat 319 other species by the almost or completely uniform tawny colour of the fur of the body, and the extreme shortness of the tail, which is less than one-third the total length of the animal. The ears are tipped with a few long black hairs, which are, however, scarcely sufficient to form a distinct pencil. Their presence, however, serves to indicate the near affinity of the jungle-cat to the lynxes, with which it agrees closely in the characters of the skull and teeth. Another special feature is to be found in the more or less reddish colour of the backs of the ears. The length of the tail varies from a third to two-fifths of that of the head and body. There are some remarkable local variations in the size of the teeth, as there also are in the colour of the fur. Speaking generally, the colour of the fur of the head and upper-parts of the body may be described as varying from sandy or yellowish grey to greyish brown, the back being darker than the flanks, often with a rufous, and more rarely with a dusky tinge. Although the head and body are generally of a uniform colour, there are usually dusky bands across the limbs ; and in some skins reddish stripes on the cheeks and a band of the same tint on the chest may be observable. Much more rarely indistinct vertical rows of spots or wavy lines may be detected ; and the occurrence of a perfectly black specimen has been recorded in India. The under surface ot the body is tawny or reddish white. The foot and ankle are brown beneath ; and the tail has a black tip, and several black rings in its terminal third. The ears generally have black tips, and although often foxy red, may be more or less grizzled. For a long time it was supposed that there were no constant distinctive features between the jungle-cats of different countries; but in 1898 Mr. W. E. de Winton, in a paper contributed to the Amiab and Magazine of Natural History, pointed out that the species may be satisfactorily divided into several local races, or sub-species. Since the species was first described upon the evidence of specimens obtained from the neighbourhood of the 320 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Caspian, it is evident that this region is the habitat of the true, or typical jungle-cat {Fe/is chaus typicd) ; and it has been found that the same race extends into the Caucasus, Turkestan, and Persia, while it may not improbably also occur in Baluchistan and Afghanistan. From this typical race the Indian jungle-cat, of which the full designa- tion is Felis chaus affinis, may be readily distinguished by its slighter build, somewhat longer tail, and the bright foxy red colour of the back of the ears, which stands out in bold contrast to the tawny hue of the rest of the head. The skull, too, is proportionally narrower, and the teeth are relatively smaller, and much less crowded together. On the other hand, the Egyptian jungle-cat [Fe/is chaus nilotica)^ which closely resembles the typical race in form and colour, although of rather superior size, is readily distinguished by the darker and more grizzled ears, the colour of which does not form a bold contrast to that of the rest ot the head, as it does in the typical and Indian races, in both of which the ears are foxy red, although brighter in the latter than in the former. Another race [Felis chaus pallida) occurs in North-Western China, distinguished by its pale colour. But the most remarkable of all the local races of this widespread species seems to be the one from Palestine (Felis chaus furax), in which the teeth are of such disproportionately large size as to be but little inferior in this respect to those of a small female leopard. Concerning this very curious feature, Mr. de Winton remarks that " there is as little difference between the teeth of the Palestine chaus and those of a female leopard as there is between those of the European wild cat and the Indian chaus — in fact, the flesh-teeth are actually larger than those of the ocelot, and had the separate teeth been found fossil, they would have been put down to an animal of the size of a leopard. Therefore in this group of cats we have all the intermediate steps in size between the teeth of Felis catus (wild cat) and Felis parous, though the animals themselves do not vary greatly in size and are not much larger than the former." It The Desert-Cat 321 would be extremely interesting to discover the reason for this remarkable increase in the size of the teeth in the Palestine jungle-cat. The Indian jungle-cat presents nothing calling for special notice in its habits. It is very generally distributed over India, from a considerable elevation in the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, and it appears to be equally abundant in Ceylon and Burma. Himalayan skins may be distinguished from those obtained in the plains of India by the much greater length of the fur. This cat is decidedly less strictly nocturnal than the majority of its kind, Jordon mentioning that he has known one spring out and seize a peacock as it fell to the gun, while the present writer has seen a specimen walk out of a maize-field at mid-day. It is a destructive creature to the smaller kinds of game, both furred and feathered ; and it occasionally directs its unwelcome attentions to domestic poultry. From three to tour kittens is the usual number in a litter ; and the female is said to breed twice a year. Hybrids between this species and domestic cats appear to be by no means rare. THE DESERT-CAT [Ft'/ is ornatii) A very short notice must suffice for this cat, as it is one ot those species whose claims to admission in a work devoted to " game," are somewhat doubtful, its size being approximately the same as that of a domestic cat. The species is nearly allied to the jungle-cat, with which it agrees in the characters of its skull, and in the presence of a few long stiff hairs on the tips of the ears, forming incipient pencils ; these hairs are, however, brown instead of black. It is further easily distinguished from the jungle-cat by the greater length of the tail, which reaches to the hocks, by the ears being coloured like the rest of the head, and by the fur being marked by numerous 322 Great and Small Game of India, etc. roundish black spots on a pale yellow ground. The under surfaces of the paws are black, and the terminal half of the tail is ringed with black. The cheeks are marked by a pair of horizontal brown stripes ; and, as is often the case in the jungle-cat, there are two black transverse bands on the inner surface of the forearm, the outer surface of the limbs also showing dark cross-bars. The desert-cat inhabits the open sandy districts of North-Western India, extending from Banda through the North -West Provinces to Agra, Sambhar, and Sind, where it is comparatively common. In Yarkand and Kashgar it is represented by what appears to be a closely allied local race [Felis ornata shawiana). THE CARACAL [Felis caracal) Native Names. — Siyah-gush, Persian ; Karakal, Turki (Plate VIII. Fig. id) Both the names Siyah-giish and Karakal refer to the black ears of this animal, which form one of its most distinguishing features, when viewed from behind, siyah meaning black in Persian, and kara having the same signification in Turki. As other common instances of the employment of the same two words, we may note siyali-posli, for the black-clothed Kaffirs ot Central Asia, and karakonim (black sand) as the name of a well-known pass on the route to Yarkand. The caracal is an animal with a very wide geographical distribution, its range extending from Africa through Palestine, Arabia, Syria, Taurus, Mesopotamia, and Persia, to Baltistan and India, as it also does into the Transcaspian countries. In Ceylon it is unknown ; and in India, where it is everywhere rare, it is more abundant, as The Caracal 323 might have been expected, in the western districts, such as Sind, Kutch, and the Punjab, although it is met with over a great part of the peninsuUi, in suitable locahties. It is, however, quite unknown in the Eastern Hima- hiya and Bengal, as it also is on the Malabar coast. By the traveller Vigne it was stated to occur in the Upper Indus valley, and he gives ech as its Ladaki name. This term is, however, evidently the same as tv, which is there commonly used for the Tibet lynx ; and if the animal was ever seen at all by that traveller in Baltistan and Ladak, it was probably in a state of captivity. The caracal forms a connecting link between the jungle-cat and the true lynxes, its ears resembling those of the latter in being furnished with large tufts of long black hairs at their tips, but its tail is much longer than in the latter animals, and the throat and chest lack the distinctive lynx-ruff. Still the caracal is more of a lynx than a cat, its skull and teeth being distinctly lynx-like in character. In point of size the animal is inter- mediate between the jungle-cat and an ordinary lynx ; but it is of remarkably slight and slender build, the limbs being proportionately long, and the tail, which reaches down to the hocks, about equal to one-third the length of the head and body. The height at the shoulder varies from 16 to 18 inches, the length of the head and body from 26 to 30 inches, and that of the tail between 9 and 10 inches. No one can possibly fail to recognise a caracal at the first glance, its lynx-like ears, uniformly red colour, and comparatively long tail rendering it absolutely unmistakable. With the exception of the outer surface of the ears, a pair of spots on the upper lip, and sometimes others on the flice, as well as, in some instances, the tip of the tail, which are black, and two pairs of pale spots in the neighbourhood of the eyes, the whole of the upper-parts and limbs are uniformly reddish, the tint varying from rufous fawn to brownish rufous. On the under-parts the colour varies from pale rufous to pure white, the inside of the ears being likewise white. 324 Great and Small Game of India, etc. Although it is but rarely that any traces of spotting can be detected on the back and sides of adult individuals, pale rufous spots are generally more or less in evidence on the light under surface of the body, and in the newly born kittens the whole coat is distinctly spotted. Individuals inhabiting desert districts are probably paler-coloured than those which live among grass and scrub. The caracal may be regarded as a member of that section of the Indian fauna which attains its maximum development in Western Asia and Africa. It always frequents more or less open country, sometimes taking advantage of the cover afforded by bushes and long grass, but never that of forests. Perhaps its most distinguishing trait is its extreme agility, by which it is enabled to capture birds on the wing at a height of several feet above the ground, springing at them as they fly over its head, and knocking them over with a blow of one of its fore-paws. It likewise possesses a great turn of speed, which falls but little short of that of the hunting-leopard. Taking advantage of these attributes, the native chieftains of India have long been in the habit of training the caracal to capture the smaller deer and antelope, as well as hares, cranes, peafowl, etc. According to Vigne, who travelled in Kashmir and India between the years 1836 and 1840, the number of tame caracals then kept by some of the chiefs was very large indeed. Pairs of these animals were likewise frequently matched against one another to kill the greatest number out of a flock of pigeons feeding on the ground, the caracals springing suddenly into the midst of the flock and knocking down the birds before and as they rose to fly. In the wild state various kinds of game-birds, together with gazelles, hares, and the smaller deer, form the chief prey of the caracal ; the habits of these animals are, however, still very imperfectly known. The Tibetan Lynx 325 THE TIBETAN LYNX [Felis lynx isaheUimi) Native Names. — Patsalan, Kashmiri ; Ee or Ech, Ladaki ; Tsogtk IN Baltistan (Plate VIII. Fig. ii) Although frequently regarded as a distinct species, there can be little doubt that the Tibetan lynx is nothing more than a pale-coloured local race of the ordinary lynx of Northern Europe and Asia, especially since there appears to be a more or less complete transition between the two forms in the Gilgit district. The reason for the paler coloration of the Tibetan lynx is not fiir to seek. Desert animals, in harmony with their environment, are always of a more sandy, or " isabelline," tone of colour than their relatives inhabiting grass-clad or forest districts. And since the ordinary lynx of Scandinavia and other parts of Northern Europe is a forest- dwelling creature, while its representative in Ladak and Tibet has to be satisfied, for the most part, with bare rocks as a dwelling-place, it is only natural to expect that there would be a marked difference in colour between the two. But before going farther on this tack, it is advisable to say a few words regarding the lynxes in general, which are the most aberrant representatives of the genus Felis — so aberrant, indeed, that by some naturalists they are assigned a genus all to themselves. From the caracal, which is their nearest relation, the true lynxes differ by the abundant frill, or ruff, of long hair which fringes the throat and helps to give them their peculiar and striking personal appearance, and likewise by the shortness and " stumpy " look ot the tail, which does not nearly reach as low as the hocks. The 326 Great and Small Game of India, etc. coat, too, is always more or less distinctly marked with small solid black spots, and the pads of the feet are clothed with a variable amount of hair. A generally " stilty " appearance is very characteristic of the lynxes, due to the relatively long legs and the short tail. The tufts of long black hairs surmounting the pointed ears have been already alluded to under the heading of the caracal. Certain characters distinctive of the skull will be found described in works of a more scientific nature than the present. In the Tibetan lynx the general colour of the thick and soft fur is pale sandy grey, or isabelline, with the under-parts of the body white, and the extremity of the tail, the margins, tips, and tufts of the ears, together with a variable number of hairs in the throat-ruiF, black. In the summer coat the whole tawny area is ornamented with the aforesaid black spots ; but in winter these latter disappear from all parts except the limbs and flanks, and sometimes even there likewise. In rare instances black spots may be noticed on the white under-parts of the body in the summer. The Tibetan race is further characterised by the relative shortness of the hair on the toes. This race inhabits the plateau of Eastern and Western Tibet, and certainly extends into Baltistan ; but its exact geographical limits are impossible to define, because, as already mentioned, when we descend lower down the valley of the Indus, to the neighbourhood of Gilgit, where there is a certain amount of forest, the lynxes begin to assume a more rutous tinge, and thus imperceptibly pass into the typical European form, in which the colour may occasionally be rusty red. Seeing that in Scandinavia the lynx is a forest-dwelling animal, it is not a little remark- able that in the Kashmir territories the animal seems never to be found on the forest side of the snowy range in Kashmir itself, but is restricted to the bleak and arid country on the Ladak side of the passes. It is true that the creature has a Kashmiri name, but the same is the case with several animals not found in the vale of Kashmir, the Kashmiris being frequent The Hunting-Leopard 327 travellers into the adjacent districts, and often receiving consignments of skins from Ladak and other places. Throughout its habitat, so far as accounts go, the Tibetan lynx is a rare animal, seldom seen, and still more rarely shot. The cubs are, however, occasionally taken by the natives of Ladak, Spiti, and Hanle, and the present writer once made the acquaintance of a tame specimen belonging to the Governor of Ladak. The Tibetan hares and blue pigeons form the chief prey of the lynx in Ladak, although it also levies toll on the smaller domesticated animals of the Tatars. In capturing pigeons the tame lynx above mentioned displayed an agility comparable to that described in the case of the caracal. Lynx cubs, of which there are generally two or three in a litter, are beautiful little " fluffy " creatures, and in Ladak are generally born in a crevice among rocks. THE HUNTING-LEOPARD ( Cy/ice/un/s jubatus) Native Names. — Chita and Laggar, Hindustani ; Ti/z and Tuz-palang^ Persian ; Chitra of the Gonds ; Chita-pii/i, Telegu ; Chircha and Sivuiigi, Canarese (Plate VIII. Fig. 12) Neither of the two popular names in common use for this interesting animal is altogether a satisfactory one. The Hindustani Chita, which, like its Gond equivalent Chitra, means spotted, is also applied in India to the leopard, and, in fact, when a native uses that term, the probability is that he is referring to the latter animal. And with regard to the name " hunting-leopard," there is the great objection that the creature is not a leopard, either in structure or in coloration, being in fact the only existing member of the cat tribe that is unquestionably entitled to be classed in a 328 Great and Small Game of India, etc. genus apart from all the rest. To some of the older writers the animal was known as the guepard ; and, whatever may be its origin, this name is altogether unobjectionable, but since it has become completely obsolete, it would be hopeless to attempt its revival. Of the other two names, hunting-leopard seems less liable to lead to confusion, and is accordingly recommended for general use.^ From all the species — both cats and lynxes — included in the genus Ff//i, the hunting-leopard is broadly distinguished by the circumstance that it is unable to withdraw its claws entirely within the margins of their protecting sheaths, so that the points constantly remain exposed. The body, too, is more slender, and the limbs are proportionately longer and slighter than in any of the species of Fells, the animal being obviously cut out for racing much more decidedly than are any of the latter. There are likewise certain distinctive features connected with the skull and the upper flesh-teeth, but on the present occasion these may be passed over without special mention. In place of being called the " hunting -leopard," the animal might almost have been better designated the " hunting-serval," since the black markings on its fur take the form of solid spots like those of the serval, instead of the rosettes distinctive of the leopard. In size and form the animal may be compared to a long-legged and slender-bodied leopard, with short and rounded ears, a tail somewhat exceeding half the length ot the head and body, the hair of the neck rather elongated, so as to form an incipient mane (whence the n^Simt ju bat us), that on the under surface of the body rather longer and shaggier than elsewhere, and the fur as a whole of a somewhat coarse type. On the upper-parts of the head and body, as well as the outer surface of the limbs, the ground-colour of the fur varies from tawny to a bright ruddy fawn, while on the under-parts it is paler, and devoid of the small round black spots with which it is elsewhere 1 See above under the heading of Leopard. The Hunting- Leopard 329 ornamented, the chin and throat, which are huffish white, being also unspotted. Towards the extremity ot the tail the spots tend to coalesce so as to form incomplete rings. The outer surface of the ears is black, except at the base and on the margins, where it is tawny. From the outer angle of each eye a black streak runs to the lip, this being continued, either as a continuous line or a row of spots, from the inner angle of the eye to a point just below the ear. The cubs are very different-looking animals to their parents, having a coat ot long and uniformly grey hair, but on turning this back more or less distinct traces of spots are noticeable on the shorter under-fur. The geographical distribution of the hunting-leopard is very similar to that of the lion. Unknown in Ceylon and on the Malabar coast, the species ranges from the confines ot Bengal through Central India and Rajputana to the Punjab, whence it extends through Baluchistan and probably parts of Afghanistan to Persia, Russian Turkestan, Transcaspia, and so on through Syria and Palestine to Africa, where it ranges as tar south as the Cape. According to the researches of Dr. Satunin, it is not found in the Caucasus. Further observations are required as to the southern limits of the range of the hunting-leopard in India. Although much has been written with regard to the training and employment of the hunting-leopard for the purpose of capturing blackbuck and other game animals by the natives of India, comparatively little has been said about the creature in its wild state ; and since this little has been repeated over and over again in works of natural history, a very short notice will be sufficient in this place. The favourite haunts of the Indian hunting -leopard are low, isolated, rocky hills, whence it can obtain an unrestricted view of the surrounding plains, and mature its plans tor stalking the blackbuck, gazelles, deer, and other animals which torm its prey. These felines hunt in couples, and creep up to within a certain 2 u 330 Great and Small Game of India, etc. distance of their intended victims, when they make one sudden rush at a terrific pace, which, whether successful or otherwise, is the final efl:ort, the pursuit being abandoned it the quarry is not overtaken during the first spurt. Occasionally, instead of a single pair, it is said that a whole family party will join in the stalk and subsequent rush. After a successful foray the hunting-leopard indulges in such a gorge that it generally requires two or three days' repose and quiet before it again takes the field. Before each chase these animals repair to some favourite tree, upon the bark of which they sharpen and clean their claws. The cubs are carefully trained by their parents in the proper method of stalking and taking their prey ; and so essential is this parental instruction that, according to native reports, cubs that have not been thus taught are of no use for hunting. Con- sequently the trained individuals kept by the chiefs for the latter purpose are always captured when full grown. The method of hunting with these tame animals has been so often described, that there would be nothing gained by its repetition. It may be added that hunting-leopards never attack man, and but very seldom carry ofi^ or molest any of his domesticated animals. Considering that on ordinary ground the best English greyhounds have not a chance with blackbuck, the speed of the hunting-leopard during its final rush must be tremendous. This speed can, however, only be maintained for a very short distance, and a well-mounted horseman can always come up with one of these creatures after a comparatively short run, when it generally permits itself to be speared without any very vigorous resistance, although at times requiring to be driven out from the covert in which it has taken refuge. If the statement by Jardine that these animals were formerly kept by the Moghul emperors in thousands for sporting purposes is to be relied on, it would seem that they must have been more numerous than is the case at the present day, when they are comparatively rare. A full-grown hunting-leopard stands about 2I feet in height at the The Indian Civet 331 shoulder, and has a total length of about 7 feet, 2^ of which is accounted for by the tail alone. THE INDIAN CIVET [Fiver r a zibethci) Native Names. — Khatas, Hindustani (in common with several other small Carnivora) ; Mach-bhoticiar, Bagdos, and PuJd-gan/a, Bengali ; Bhra?! IN THE Nepal Terai ; Nit-birahi, Nepalese ; Kung of the Bhotias ; Saphiong of the Lepchas ; Kyoi/ng-iiiycng (horse-cat), Burmese ; Tangalong^ Malay Although commonly called cats or civet-cats, the civets and their allies the palm-civets are really very different animals from the Felicia, forming the separate, although nearly related family of the Fiverridce. For one thing, the civets, in place of the short "smug" faces of the cats, have long and sharply pointed muzzles, which implies the possession of a much larger series of teeth in the jaws. And, as a matter of fact, not only are the teeth of all the members of the civet tribe much more numerous than those ot the cats, but they are likewise very different in structure, being less completely adapted for the rending of large masses of flesh. Since, however, it is not the object of the present volume to serve as a manual of natural history, such details must be passed over without further mention. The true civets of the genus Fiverra, which, with the exception of the fossa [Cryptoproctd) of Madagascar, include the largest representatives of the family to which they belong, are distinguished by the grooved upper lip, the long, ringed tail, the absence of tufts on the ears, the black gorget on the throat, the long and loose character of the fur, which is generally elongated into a kind of crest down the back, and the short and partially retractile claws. They walk on the tips of their toes, and, with the 33 2 Great and Small Game of India, etc. exception of the " pads," the entire foot is hairy. Above all, these animals are furnished with a pouch in the groin which secretes the strong perfume from which they derive their name (or which derives its name from them). The present species, sometimes known as the large Indian civet, exceeds in size all the other members of the group inhabiting the country, the length of the head and body being about 32 inches, and that of the tail 8 inches. Perhaps its most distinctive specific feature is to be found in the banding of the whole length of the tail by alternate dark and light rings. The general colour of the fur is a dark hoary grey, frequently with a more or less decided brownish or reddish tinge, the sides of the body being often uniformly coloured, but in other instances marked with transverse cloudy dark bars ; the crest, like the gorget on the throat, is black, but the tront and sides of the throat, as well as the chest, are pure white. Not unfrequently there is a dusky band above and another below the gorget, and when the second of these is developed, it joins a horizontal streak running from behind the ear. The upper portion of the limbs shows dark barrings externally, but their lower parts are uniformly blackish brown, or black. The range ot this civet in the area under consideration includes Burma, Assam, the Eastern Himalaya, and Bengal ; in Sikhim and Nepal the animal ascends to a considerable elevation above the sea-level. In its habits it is for the most part solitary, hiding in thick covert during the day, and wandering in search of food by night. Although it cannot climb, it takes readily to the water, and it frequently makes its lair in some hole in the ground. All animals that it can kill, as well as eggs, seem acceptable as food to the civet, which not unfrequently does considerable harm to domestic poultry. As the skin is of little value, this animal offers but slight attraction to the sportsman. Three other, but smaller species of civet inhabit India and Burma. In The Binturong 333 addition to these there are, in the Eastern Himalaya and Burma, the grace- ful and beautifully coloured linsangs [hinsanga), while various species of palm-civets, or tody-cats [Paradoxitrus), as well as mongooses [Herpestes). are to be met with all over the country. None of these can, however, be regarded as game animals, even in the widest sense of that term, and we may accordingly pass on to another member of that Vivcrriche which seems to merit a brief notice. THE BINTURONG [Arctictis binturong) Native Names. — Youngs Assamese ; Myoiik-kya (monkey-tiger), Burmese ; Lhitaroiig, Malay (Plate IX. Fig. i) Whereas prehensile tails, by means of which their owners have the power of slinging themselves to branches, are of common occurrence among the marsupials of Australia, the ant-eaters and monkeys of South America, and the opossums of both divisions of the New World, for some hitherto unexplained reason such a power in the caudal appendage does not appear to be in fashion in other parts of the world. The binturong, or, as it should be correctly called, untarong, is, however, one of the very few exceptions to this rule, and for this, if for no other reason, is worthy the attention of the sportsman. It is, indeed, the only prehensile-tailed mammal of any size to be found throughout the whole extent of the three great continents of the Old World. The binturong may perhaps be best compared in size and general appearance to a very large, very long-tailed, shaggy black cat, with tufts of elongated hairs to its pointed ears. And as it cannot possibly be confused with any other animal, this comparison will suffice for its 334 Great and Small Game of India, etc. identification when encountered. It may, however, be as well to add that, instead of walking entirely on its toes, after the manner of a cat, the binturong applies the whole of the under surface of the hind-foot to the ground, like a bear. In most specimens of the animal there is a more or less marked tendency to the development of a grey grizzling, and in Borneo there occurs a distinctly grey phase. The length of the head and body ranges between 28 and 33 inches, and that of the tail between 26 and 27 inches. The distributional area of the binturong extends from the great Malay Islands and Peninsula through Borneo to Assam. Mr. W. T. Blanford states that its alleged occurrence in the Eastern Himalaya is doubtful, but Mr. W. L. Sclater says that it is found even as far west as Simla. However this may be, there is no doubt that the animal is essentially a Malay type. The binturong has been from time to time exhibited in the London Zoological Gardens, and as it is a purely nocturnal creature, it is mainly from these captive specimens that the little we know of its mode of life has been gleaned. It is always found in forests, and is probably for the most part, if not completely, arboreal. The aforesaid captive individuals have demonstrated the prehensile power of the tail, and have likewise indicated the omnivorous tastes of the creature. As to its breeding-habits, there is ample opportunity for sportsmen to enlighten naturalists, as there is to ascertain the truth of the assertion that the binturong utters a weird and piercing cry. Great cV. Small Game of India 6cc., Plate IX. ■# 4^„^— ^1^. '^^ :f^ ■^ '^*3. A^ >#. ->*»^s«^^ ^'W 5 .%/} 'fe, PLATE IX 1. Biaturong. 7- Short-tailed Panda. 2. Striped Hya:na. 8. Himalayan Brown I 3. Tibetan Wolf. 9. Tibetan Blue Bear. 4. Indian Wolf. 10. Himalayan Black Bea 5. Wild Dog. II- Malay Bear. 6. Himalayan Panda. ' 12. Sloth-Bear. ear. The Striped Hyaena 335 THE STRIPED HYAENA {Hycena striata) Native Names. — Lakar-hagha, Lakar-bagh, or Lakra, Jhirak, Hondar, Harvagh, and Taras, Hindustani, in different parts of the COUNTRY ; Taras, Mahrathi and Sindi ; C/wrak, Sindi ; Aptar\ Baluchi ; Reiihra of the Gonds ; Hebar-kiila, Ho-Kol ; Derko-tiid IN the Rajmehal Hills ; Dhopre, Korka ; Kirba and Ki/t-kirba, Canarese ; Diimul-gundii and Korim-giiiidii, Telegu ; Kahithai-korachi, Tamil (Plate IX. Fig. 2) Hysnas are among the few animals for whom no one has a good word to say ; and it must be confessed that they are attractive neither in personal appearance or in habits. But in spite of this they are decidedly useful and beneficent creatures, being perhaps the most efficient of all scavengers, since their powerful cone-like teeth enable them to crack bones of considerable calibre, and thus to devour skeletons which are left by all other animals. In return for these benefits, the striped hysna, when captured, as the present writer had once the misfortune to witness, is cruelly maimed and tortured by some, if not by all the natives of India ! Although there may be some confusion between the spotted species of Africa and the hunting-dog of the same country, no one, in India at any rate, is likely to mistake a hysna for any other animal, or to fail to recognise one of these creatures when met with, either alive or dead. Consequently, there is no need to describe the distinctive features by which these animals are separated from the cats and civets on the one hand and the dogs and wolves on the other. Nor is it necessary to record in prolix details the specific characters of the striped species, seeing that it is the only 33^ Great and Small Game of India, etc. representative of its kind met with in India. As regards the first point, it will accordingly suffice to say that these animals are classed by naturalists in a family by themselves — the Hyanidce — and that this family exhibits certain indications of affinity with the Felidce and Fiverridce, as it does like- wise, on the opposite side, with the Cajtidce. No one who has ever had the opportunity of examining a hy