Game Animals of India, etc. 



measure 57^ inches along the curve, and were obtained 

 from the Thian Shan, while a pair of 56 inches came 

 from the Tagdumbash district. Horns from the 

 neighbourhood of Gilgit and Baltistan are known 

 of which the respective lengths are 54^, 53^, and 

 52 inches, while the basal girth ranges from 10 to 

 11^ inches. In the Himalayan race the maximum 

 recorded length is 515 inches. 



So much has been written with regard to the habits 

 of the Asiatic ibex, that a short notice will suffice on 

 this occasion. Mr. Darrah, whose specimens were 

 obtained in the Gilgit district, has given, in Sport in the 

 Highlands of Kashmir^ the following excellent account. 

 " Ibex and markhor seem only to move morning and 

 evening. During the day they lie in covert, or under 

 rocks, or on snow, usually in some inaccessible spot, 

 far up on the ranges amongst which they are found. 

 They go downwards in the evening for the sake of 

 such grazing as the barren mountains they frequent 

 produce, which is naturally best at the lowest elevations. 

 In the mornings they graze their way upwards again 

 to the places they occupy during the day. Here, 

 while the others sleep, one or two of the herd carefully 

 watch the hill-sides below them, ready to give the 

 alarm at the first appearance of danger. Consequently 

 they cannot be approached from below at all. And 

 from above they are almost equally hard to reach, 

 though for different reasons. Ibex delight in snow, 

 and usually get up as far as possible — so far, indeed, 

 that it is generally a practical impossibility to get above 

 them. . . . Such being the habits of these two species 

 of goat, the midday halt became a necessity, and the 

 morning and evening were alone devoted to searching 

 the hillsides." 



The same writer, like all those who have described 

 ibex-stalking, was much struck with the marvellous 

 vitality of these animals, which when hard hit will 

 frequently go a considerable distance as if nothing were 



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