60 THE NYL-GHAU. 



duces, which is so well known in the fashionable world, and so 

 much used in the practice of physic. This drug is found in a 

 bag, or tumor, nearly of the size of a hen's egg, which grows 

 on the belly of the male. Of these bags, many thousands are 

 annually sent to Europe, besides what are used in the East. 

 Tavernier tells us, that, in one journey, he collected 7673 musk- 

 bags. To account for this amazing supply, it is by some sup- 

 posed, that the musk is often adulterated and mixed with the 

 blood of the animal. 



It is generally asserted, that when the musk-bag is first opened, 

 so powerful an odour comes from it, that every person present 

 is obliged to cover his mouth and nose with several folds of linen; 

 and that, notwithstanding this precaution, the blood will fre- 

 quently gush from the nose. When the musk is fresh, a very 

 small quantity, in a confined place, is insupportable : it causes 

 giddiness in the head and haemorrhages, which have sometimes 

 proved fatal. 



THE NYL-GHAU 



Is a curious and beautiful animal, which seems to be of a mid- 

 dle nature, between the cow and the deer, to both of which it 

 bears a resemblance. In size it exceeds the latter, as much as 

 it falls short of the former : its body, horns, an * tail, are similar 

 to those of the cow; and the head, neck, and legs, resemble those 

 of the deer. The colour is generally grey, from the mixture of 

 black hairs and white. Along the ridge of the neck, the hair is 

 blacker, longer, and more erect, forming a short, thin, and up- 

 right mane. Its horns are about seven inches long, and six inches 

 in circumference at the base, terminating in an obtuse point. 

 The ears are large, broad, and beautiful, being about seven inches 

 in length, and of a white colour on the edge and the inside, ex- 

 cept where marked in the hollow with two black bands, resem- 

 bling the stripes of the zebra. The height of the nyl-ghau has 

 been measured, arid found to be four feet. Several of these ani- 

 mals were introduced into England in the year 1767, which 

 continued to breed annually for some years. They were mild and 

 gentle, pleased with familiarity, and fond of licking the hands of 

 any person who stroked them, or gave them food, and never in- 

 clined to use their horns offensively. Their sense of smelling 

 seems very acute, and they snuff exceedingly when any person 

 approaches them. In the rutting season, however, they are fierce; 

 and a labouring man, having approached the inclosure where 

 some of these animals were kept, the nyl-ghau made furiously at 

 him, with the rapidity of lightning, and darted against the paling 

 with such force as to break one of its horns, which occasioned 

 its death. 



