432 SOME TIBETAN ANIMALS. 



the Tibet plateau must likewise suffice, seeing that this handsome cat 

 has a wide range in central Asia. 



Several species of deer are found in or near Tibet, although all of 

 them appear to be confined to the wooded districts bordering the arid 

 central plateau. The finest of these is undoubtedly the shou {Cenms 

 affinis), a species allied to the red deer, inhabiting the forests some- 

 where near the head of the Chumbi Valley, in Sikliim. This deer is 

 very rare in collections, where it is represented mainly by skulls and 

 antlers, but it is probable that specimens will before long be forth- 

 coming. A young individual is stated to have been killed during the 

 early days of the Tibet expedition. Thorold's deer {C. alhirostris) 

 is a rather smaller and much darker colored species, readily distin- 

 guished Iw its white muzzle and the comparatively simple antlers. It 

 exhibits the relatively' heavy build characteristic of species inhabiting 

 cold countries. This fine deer was first obtained in the wooded dis- 

 tricts to the north of Lassa by the Russian explorer Przewalski, and 

 subsequently by the English traveler Doctor Thorold, to whom the 

 British Museum is indebted for its specimen. The third deer peculiar 

 to the country is the Tibetan tufted deer {Elaphodus cephaJophu.s), 

 a species of the approximate size of a roebuck, and typifying a pe- 

 culiar genus. In general character this deer is nearh^ related to the 

 Indian and Malay nuintjacs {Cerrnli/.s), the bucks being armed with 

 similar long tusks in the upper jaw. l)ut the antlers are even smaller 

 than in the latter, being reduced to mere knobs, and there are distinc- 

 tive peculiarities in the skull. This interesting deer was first o])tained 

 I)y the Abbe David in the Moupin district of eastern Tibet, but a sec- 

 ond species was soon afterwards secured near Ningpo, in eastern 

 China, while a third kind has recently been described from the moun- 

 tains near Ichang, in central China. 



In hollow-horned ruminants (oxen, sheep, antelopes, etc.) Tibet is 

 specially rich, many of the species being peculiar to the country, 

 where several of them are confined to the high central arid i)lateau. 



The first place in this group must undoubtedly be assigned to the 

 yak {Bo.-i (/7mnnie7is) , one of the finest and largest of the wild oxen, 

 specially characterized by the great growth of long, shaggy hair along 

 the flanks and underparts of the body and the well-known bushy tail. 

 In this country, unfoi'tuiiately, a somewhat false impression of the 

 yak is pi-evalent, owing to the fact that all the specimens hitherto 

 imported l^eloug either to a small domesticated breed from Darjiling 

 or to half-bi'eeds. the latter being generally black and white, instead 

 of the uniform black distinctive of the pure-bred and wild animal. 

 None of such half-breeds can compare with the magnificent half- 

 tamed animals kept by the natives of the elevated Kupsu Plateau, to 

 the south of the Indus, where they afford the only means of transport 

 by this route between Ladak and India. And even these Kupsu 



