the kuku-yaman (Ovis Nahoor), the antelopes called orongo and ata (Antilope Hodgsoni and A. pictiсаuda), the kulan or wild ass (Equus Kiang), the grey wolf (Lupus Chanco). Besides which are the bear (Ursus sp.) the manul (Felis manul?),[1] the fox (Canis vulpes), the steppe fox (Canis Corsac), the hare (Lepus tolai), the marmot (Arctomys sp.) and two kinds of lagomys (Lagomys sp.).
We had already seen some of these animals in Kan-su and Koko-nor: I will, therefore, confine the following remarks to those which are peculiar to Tibet, amongst which the wild yak or long-haired ox of course takes the first place.
This handsome animal is of extraordinary size and beauty, measuring when full grown eleven feet in length, exclusive of its bushy tail, which is three feet long; its height at the hump is six feet; girth round the centre of the body eleven feet, and its weight ten or eleven hundredweight. The head is adorned with ponderous horns, two feet nine inches long, and one foot four inches in circumference at the root. The body is covered with thick black hair, which in the old males assumes a chestnut colour on the back and upper parts of the sides, and a deep fringe of black hair hangs down from the
- ↑ We ourselves did not see either the manul or the bear, but we were told about them by some hunters in Tsaidam; and I once saw a footprint in the snow, which the guide declared to be that of the manul. (See Supplementary Note.) Bears were dormant for the winter, but it is said they are very numerous in the Burkhan Buddha and Shuga ranges. Judging from the description given us, they must be of the same species as the bear of Kan-su.
