7/6 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



the temperature is continually changing, the wind is equally variable. It will 

 sometimes shift to every point of the compass in the course of a few minutes, and 

 the best-planned stalk may be utterly spoiled." 



The yak found in the Chang-Chenmo valley are chiefly or entirely stragglers 

 from Chinese territory, and, owing to incessant pursuit, very few are to be met with 

 at the present day in these regions. Native travelers report, however, that on the 

 upper Indus, to the eastward of Ladakh, yak are to be found in vast numbers, and 

 that there they do not exhibit the extreme wariness characterizing those which 

 wander into Ladakh. In Northern Tibet yak have been also met with in great num- 

 bers by the Russian explorer, Prejewalski. Here the old bulls were found alone, 

 and the cows and younger males generally in small herds; although, where the 

 pasture was good, the herds were sometimes very large. These herds wandered 

 more or less regularly over wide tracts of country, and, according to native reports, 

 were found in summer in grassy plains, where they were quite unknown in winter. 

 As in Southern Tibet, they were especially partial to the tracts bordering the streams, 

 where grass was more abundant than elsewhere. On the other hand, the solitary 

 bulls were reported to inhabit the same districts throughout the year. Where the 

 herds were largest, their numbers are said to be reckoned by hundreds, and even 

 thousands. When alarmed or expecting danger, the cows and older bulls place 

 themselves in the van and on the flanks of the herds, with the calves in the centre; 

 but on the near approach of a hunter, the whole herd will take to flight at a gallop, 

 with their heads down and their tails in the air. A wounded yak, whether cow or 

 bull, will, according to General Kinloch, not unfrequently charge. 



A peculiarity of the yak is its grunting voice, from which it derives 

 its Latin title. Domestic yak are kept by the inhabitants of the 

 higher regions of Tibet as beasts of burden, and for the sake of their flesh; and are 

 absolutely essential for crossing many parts of that desolate region. Some of the 

 pure-bred animals kept by the Tartar tribes living on the Rupsu plateau, to the 

 south of the Indus in Ladakh, are magnificent beasts of large size and uniformly-dark 

 color. When they have not been used for a considerable period the}' are very wild, 

 and apt to break loose and throw their loads; but after a few days' march they sober 

 down. In other parts the yak are smaller, and vary greatly in color, being some- 

 times entirely white, while the tail is very generally of that hue. There are also 

 many crosses between the yak and ordinary cattle, some of the breeds being without 

 horns. These half breeds have the advantage of being able to withstand much 

 higher temperatures than the pure yak: and they may be met with carrying bur- 

 dens in the hot valley of the Indus, between the towns of Ley and Kashmir. 



Although yak are admirable beasts of burden on account of their endurance 

 and strength, and the facility with which they will traverse glaciers and swim icy 

 torrents, they have the great disadvantage that they will not eat corn. This fre- 

 quently necessitates the pushing on of the party by forced marches to prevent their 

 beasts from perishing of hunger. The following description of a march with yak, 

 for the truthfulness of which the present writer can vouch from his own personal 

 experience, is from the pen of General Macintyre. "For more than six weary 

 hours," writes the general, "did we toil up against the almost blinding snow and 



