116 Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, &(;c. 



expect to find in the neighbourhood of Tarsus, a port which 

 may be easily reached by the French and Austrian steamers of 

 the Levant Une from Smyrna and Rhodes. 



" A shooting excursion in the Cilician Taurus would be no 

 disagreeable amusement; for it would not be difficult, directly 

 on leaving the steamer down in the plains, to kill Francolins, 

 Wild Swine, two species of Gazelles, the yet undetermined Stag 

 of the Pyramus woods, Beavers, black Fishing-otters, Jackals, 

 and striped Hysenas, not to speak of a multitude of marsh and 

 water fowl, with which the wide sedgy expanse of brackish 

 waters abounds. 



" When the heat of the plains becomes excessive, the sports- 

 man may ascend to the hills to search out the Leopards in the 

 rocky hollows, which, however, are among the rarities. But the 

 Boar is not uncommon in the mountain woods, the Ptarmigan, 

 Jackal, and striped Hysena ascend up to an elevation of 3000 

 feet, and the great pale yellow Vulture is to be found wherever 

 a beast is killed. Passing through the wide woods, which girt 

 the hills, one meets with the Syrian Bear, and hither too the 

 Ticopard retreats in the summer time from the heat of the low 

 country, while the black-eared Lynx makes his permanent 

 abode here in company with the Bears, which ravage the vine- 

 yards. Badgers too, Syrian Squirrels, Hares, Foxes, and par- 

 ticularly Jackals, are not uncommon in the neighbourhood of 

 the villages, and the Wild Boar range thi'ough the valleys up to 

 the borders of the hills. Of feathered fowl. Ptarmigan and Wild 

 Doves are generally diffused. The Moufflon is seldom seen, yet 

 the inhabitants of Giillek get from 10 to 20 head every year. 

 What has been already said might perhaps seem sufficient to 

 show that Cilicia invites the visit of the sportsman. But the 

 most noble game of all inhabits the mountain region. The 

 Steinbock* exceeds the European species in dimensions by one- 

 third. It often reaches a length of 6^ feet. Li its company 

 live Viverra narmatica, and a noble bird, possessing a fine-sound- 

 ing call, Tetraogallus caucasicus. They all find a follower in 

 the Gypa'etus, which is however rare." — Kotschy, ' Reise in den 

 Cilicischen Taurus iiber Tarsus.' Gotha, 1858. 



* Perhaps Capra caucasica, Giilderst. ? — Ed. 



