SPORT IN WESTERN CHINA 149 



obtaining one of these animals, though we came upon fresh 

 tracks and dung in quantity. As a result of some ten days' 

 hunting, Zappey only once sighted this Serow. A loud, angry 

 snort in the brush, a momentary glance, and all was over. The , 

 animal covered 15 to 20 feet at a bound, and was through the 

 thicket and over the ridge in less time than it takes to tell. As 

 the country is everywhere difficult, and the animal scarce, 

 there is very little chance of securing a trophy. On the high 

 mountains south-west of Ichang this same Serow occurs, but is 

 even more rare there than in the north-west of the province. 



We secured fragments of a flat skin and several pairs of 

 horns, but these are insufficient to show what the species is. 

 A pair of these horns I obtained in exchange for a couple of 

 empty bottles measure : length, 10 1 inches ; circumference at 

 base, 5 inches ; tip interval, 4I inches. 



The horns of all the Chinese Serow are very similar, being 

 jet-black in colour, ringed, and tapering to a point ; the 

 position is erect and curving backwards. The hair is coarse, 

 long, and shaggy, with a short woolly underfur, and neither in 

 the colour of the pelt nor in the size of the horns is there any 

 marked difference between the sexes, age having more to do 

 in these matters than anything else. 



GORAL, " YEH YANG-TSZE " 



Three species of Goral have been recognized in Western 

 China, two in west Szechuan and one in west Hupeh. Quite 

 recently they have been lumped under one species, but this 

 is scarcely a satisfactory method of classifying them. The 

 Goral found in Hupeh and Szechuan are readily distinguished 

 by their colour, and it is convenient at any rate to keep them 

 under separate names. These animals make their home amidst 

 limestone crags and precipices, and though quite common are 

 rarely seen, and not easily hunted. They are not so difficult 

 to shoot as to retrieve afterwards, consequent upon the 

 precipitous nature of their haunts. During sunny weather 

 they lay up during the daytime on scrub-clad ledges of rock 

 or in the mouths of caves that are so common in limestone 

 regions. They feed in the early morning and in the evening, 



