390 Miscellaneous. 



figured by Gmelin ; but Prof. Walker committed the extraordinary 

 mistake of figuring and describing an Indian Ghor-khur for a Kyang, 

 so that the alleged distinctions which he has pointed out are value- 

 less. However this mistake originated, there is no doubt whatever 

 of the fact*." 



Now I am in a position to say quite positively that Dr. Walker 

 was right, and that Mr. Blyth is wrong, in the matter of fact. The 

 animal in question was bought in my presence for the late Mr. 

 Thomason for Rs. 100, at the fair at Bagesar in Kumaon, from a 

 Tuhari Bhotiya by whom it had been obtained in Tibet. The story of 

 its attachment to the pony, to which Mr. Blyth also alludes, is odd ; 

 and I will state it in full, with the hope that I may satisfy everybody 

 that I really do know something of the personal history of Dr. 

 Walker's Kyang. 



Mr. Thomason paid a visit to Almora (the capital of Kumaon) at 

 the end of 1847. I was there at the time ; and so was my brother, 

 Mr. John Strachey. We heard of the Kyang ; and Mr. Thomason 

 having been informed of its existence, asked my brother to buy it 

 for him, and to send it down to Calcutta, to be forwarded thence to 

 England for the Zoological Society. The animal was bought, as I 

 before said. But on attempting to remove it from the place where it 

 was tied up, it most flatly refused to stir ; neither coaxing nor force 

 was of any use. We were rather puzzled what to do, when, on inquiry 

 of its old Bhotiya owner, we learned that it had always been in com- 

 pany with a white pony for which it had a strong affection. It then 

 occurred to us that if we got the pony too, the Kyang might be 

 induced to follow where the pony led ; and so it turned out. One or 

 two attempts were made subsequently to surprise the Kyang into a 

 more independent sort of existence, but it was of no use, and so the 

 pony and he went off to Calcutta together. 



The end of the pair was tragical. In a gale of wind off the Cape, 

 the Kyang died ; and the captain somewhat savagely threw the pony 

 overboard alive, as his existence seemed no longer necessary after the 

 Kyang' s death. 



Thus much as to the Kyang' s identity. I must add, however, that 

 although I am thus forced to point out Mr. Blyth' s mistake in this 

 matter of fact, I in reality corroborate the force of his arguments as to 

 the probable specific identity of the two Asses — the Kyang and the 

 Ghor-khur. It is obvious that Dr. Walker's description of a true 

 Kyang answers perfectly for a true Ghor-khur ; and, as Mr. Blyth 

 observes (though in a somewhat different sense), the alleged distinc- 

 tions pointed out by Dr. Walker are probably valueless enough. 



I have no pretensions to such a knowledge of zoology or anatomy 

 as would make my opinion of any weight on the question of specific 

 identity ; but I may add a few words as to some of the more pro- 

 minent features of the Kyang, having seen many of these animals 

 dead and alive. 



In the first place, my impression as to the voice of the Kyang is 

 that it is a shrieking bray — not like that of the common Ass, but 

 * Annals for October, p. 234. 



