56 DE. J. E. T, AITCHISON ON THE ZOOLOGY OF 



and I think the general view was against the assumption. However, on Sir Peter 

 Lumsden, G.C.B., and his party joining our camp at Khusan, our -^-iews began to change, 

 as we heard from them that they had seen the pugs (footprints) of Tigers in the valley 

 of the Hari-rud ; and the native report was that we were iu the land of Tigers. On the 

 19th January, 1885, at our camp at Bala-morghab the body of a female Tiger was 

 brought to the General. It had been caught in a trap by the neck, then shot, and 

 frequently stabbed, as the skin was a good deal injured by knife-cuts. It was evidently 

 an old animal, the teeth being broken and much worn away. It measured S feet 

 4| inches from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, the tail alone measuring 36 

 inches ; and from the spine above the shoulder to the base of the second claw on the 

 fore foot measured 3 feet 8 inches. The skin was in good condition, and in no way 

 mangy, which was remarkable, considering the age of the animal and its worn away 

 teeth. It was killed near Karaol-khana, between that and Mara-chak on the Bala-mor- 

 ghab river. The arrival of this Tiger in camp settled, beyond mere hearsay and 

 impressions, the fact that Tigers exist as far east as the Bala-morghab. On the 5th 

 May, at the Chashma-sabz pass, at an elevation of 5000 feet, I came across the play- 

 ground evidently of a pair of line animals, which, from the very recent condition of their 

 jyiiQs, must have been close in our neighbourhood. Again near Toman-agha, on the 

 Hari-rud, I saw their markings plentifully. During summer, owing to there being so 

 much suitable cover for Tigers, they wander over the great rolling plains of the Badghis, 

 ascending to higher altitudes with the increase of heat, depending for their food on Pig, 

 Oorial, and even Ibex. In winter they resort to the Tamarisk and grass thickets of the 

 larger streams and main rivers, to which their usual food, the Pig, also retires. The 

 Turkomans say that an old and toothless Tiger is especially destructive to sheep, hunger 

 and inability to obtain other food making hiin very bold and cunning. They assert that 

 such a Tiger will follow a man on horseback, wait until he has taken his food, and has 

 lain down to rest, and will then attack him in preference to his horse. 



At Bandar-i-ghaz, the port of Astrabad, on tlie Caspian, there was a fine Tigress in 

 captivity, some six or seven months old, which was said to have been caught on the 

 Hari-rud between Sarakhs and Pul-i-katun : this I purchased, and after many difficulties 

 managed to place safely on board an English steamer at Batoum, bound for England. 

 It is ]iow in the Zoological Gardens of London, having been presented to tlie Zoological 

 Society by the Government of India in Council. 



The above data confirm Terrier's statements, that Tigers exist in the thickets of 

 the Hari-rud, and extend their geographical area as far east as the Bala-morghab river. 

 —J. E. T. A.] 



[Felis jubata, Schreber. 



Blanford, turn. fit. p. 35. 



A pair of young Hunting Leopards were obtained by Sir Peter Lumsden's party in 

 their journey through Persia towards Afghanistan, in the watershed of the Hari-rud 

 river, on the southern slopes of the mountains that separate the waters of the Zroabad 



