Big Game of Mongolia and Tibet 



lo's), bending gracefully forward. The head 

 is large, but well proportioned, and the eyes 

 quite large, but with a very wild look in them. 

 The legs are short and very heavy, the hoofs 

 straight and invariably black. The hair, which 

 hangs down over the body and legs, the face 

 alone excepted, is wavy, and on the sides, belly 

 and legs is so long that it reaches within a few 

 inches of the ground. The tail is very bushy 

 and reaches to the hocks, all the hair being of 

 such uniform length that it looks as if it were 

 trimmed. When running, the yak carries its 

 tail high up or even over its back, and when 

 frightened or angered holds it straight out 

 behind. 



The calves have a grunt resembling that of 

 the hog, hence the name Bos grun7tiens, but in 

 the grown animal it is rarely heard ; it is at 

 best only a dull, low sound, unworthy of such 

 a big, savage-looking beast. The bones of the 

 yak are so heavy that it is nearly impossible to 

 kill one except by shooting it through the heart 

 or wounding it in some equally vital spot. 

 Although I have shot a great many of these 

 animals in northern Tibet, I have never bag- 

 ged any except when shot as above mentioned, 

 nor have I ever broken the limb of one. It is 



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