THE BOVINE DWELLERS OF OTHER LANDS. 177 



clothes its body, and by a kind of mane that runs along 

 the center of its back and shoulders, as well as by the 

 peculiarity of the sounds to which it gives utterance. The 

 yak is a native of Thibet, inhabiting the loftiest plateaux 

 of high Asia.' 1 Dr. Hooker further describes it : " The 

 yak is a very tame, often handsome, domestic animal, and 

 a true bison in appearance. It is invaluable to these 

 mountaineers from its strength and hardiness, accomplish- 

 ing, at a slow pace, twenty miles a day, bearing either two 

 bags of salt or rice, or four to six planks of pine-wood, 

 slung in pairs along either flank. 



11. " Their ears are generally pierced, and ornamented 

 with a tuft of scarlet worsted ; they have large and beau- 

 tiful eyes, spreading horns, long silky black hair, and 

 grand bushy tails. Black is their prevailing color. In 

 winter the flocks graze below eight thousand feet, on ac- 

 count of the great quantity of snow above that height ; in 

 summer they find pasturage as high as seventeen thousand 

 feet, consisting of grass and small tufted carices, which 

 they browse with avidity. The yak is used as a beast of 

 burden, and much of 

 the wealth of the peo- 

 ple consists in its rich Hii 

 milk and curd, eaten 

 either fresh, or dried 

 and powdered into a 

 kind of meal. The 

 hair is spun into ropes, 

 and woven into a cov- 

 ering for their tents, 

 which is quite pervi- 

 ous to wind or rain. 

 The latter, however, is 



of little consequence in The Mvsk-Ox 



12 



