434 SOME TIBETAN ANIMALS. 



loni»' straight horn. Althoniili far from uiiconiiiion, chirii are 

 very Avarv, and consequently difficult to approach. Like all Tibetan 

 animals, they have a firm thick coat, formed in this instance of close 

 Avoolly hair of a gray-fawn color. Tln^ most peculiar feature about 

 the chiru is, however, its swollen pufl'y nose, Avhich is probably con- 

 nected with breathing a highly rarified atmosphere. This antelope 

 has never been exhibited alive in a menagei'ie, and, as is the case 

 with the other large mammals of the central desert plateau of Tibet, 

 it would probably not live if removed from its native uplands to ordi- 

 nary levels. A second antelo})e inhal)iting the same country as the 

 chiru is the goa {GazcJla 'picticaudatd), a member of the gazille group, 

 characterized by the peculiar form of the horns of the bucks and cer- 

 tain features of coloration, Avhereby it is markedl}' distinguished from 

 all its kinch'ed save one or two other central Asiatic species. 



The most remarkable of all the Tibetan hollow-horned ruminants is, 

 however, the takin {Budorcas taxicolor), of wdiich the t3q:)ical repre- 

 sentative inhabits the Mishmi Hills, in the southeast corner of the 

 country, imnie<liately north of the Assam Valley, while a second 

 variety is found farther east in the Moupin district. The takin, 

 which may be compared in size to a Kerry cow, is a clumsily built 

 brute with yellowish-brown hair and curiously curved horns, which 

 in some degree recall those of the South African white-tailed gnu. 

 Its nearest relatives appear to be the seroAvs of the outer Himalaya 

 and the Malay countries, which are in many respects intermediate 

 between goats and antelopes. As it lacks the thick woolly coat of 

 the chiru and the goa, there can be little doubt that it inhabits a coun- 

 try with a less severe climate than that of the central Til>etan pla- 

 teau, and it is ])robably a native of the more or less wooded districts 

 of comparatively low elevation forming the outskirts of Tibet. It 

 is one of the few large animals that hitherto appears never to have 

 fallen to the rifle of a European. 



With the large and handsome wild ass or wild horse (for it is, to a 

 great extent, intermediate between the two), locally known as the 

 kiang, we return once more to a characteristic denizen of the desert 

 plateau forming the heart of Tibet. The kiang {Equus hemionvs 

 hmng) stands close on 13 hands at the shoulder, and is of a bright red 

 bay in color, with the muzzle, underparts, and legs dazzling white. 

 Its ears (fig. 5) are relatively much shorter and its hoofs much 

 broader than in the true wild asses of Africa, from which it also 

 differs markedly in color, while its cry is somewhat between a bray 

 and a neigh. In the higher and more open parts of Ladak, kiang 

 are to be seen in large numbers; and the}' come galloping round the 

 convoy of the traveler in circles, with their heads carried high in the 

 air, so that the face is almost horizontal. Wliether the kiang is en- 



