ORDER ARTIODACTYLA I EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 529 



in unrestricted freedom. This animal ... is also found further north, and is 

 said to haunt in considerable numbers the mountain ranges of Kan-su near 

 the headwaters of the Tatung and Etsina, the northernmost limit of its 

 distribution. In Kan-su, however, it is becoming extinct, owing to the way 

 in which it is persecuted by the native hunters. . . . 



At all other times, except the rutting season, the old bulls keep single, or 

 in small troops of three or five; younger fully grown bulls . . . are more 

 often found in separate troops of ten or twelve, with one or two old bulls 

 among them. The females, young bulls, and calves assemble in enormous 

 herds of several hundred or a thousand head. In such large numbers they 

 have difficulty in finding sufficient food, but the calves are thus best protected 

 from the attacks of wolves. . . . 



We first saw single animals soon after crossing the Burkhan Buddha, but 

 it was not until we came to the Baian-kara-ula . . . that we saw herds of 

 them, and again, in the valley of the Murui-ussu ; previously we had seen two 

 small troops near the river Shuga. . . . 



Their favourite resorts are thickly strewn with their dung, which is the only 

 fuel in these deserts, and without which the journey across Tibet would be 

 impracticable, for there are no bushes of any kind in this country. . . . 



Gifted with enormous physical strength, the yak in its native deserts, far 

 from the haunts of men, has no dangerous enemies, and generally dies of 

 old age. But he is subject to a kind of mange . . . which spreads over the 

 whole body, and causes the hair to fall off. I cannot say whether they ever 

 recover from this complaint, or whether in time it proves fatal .... 



The Mongols of Tsaidam . . . often hunt the wild yak, their chief induce- 

 ment being the large quantity of meat which it yields; gluttony overcoming 

 their fears. . . . Besides eating the yak beef, Mongols use the heart and 

 blood of this animal, taken internally, for medicinal purposes; the hides are 

 sent to Tonkir, and ropes are spun from the long hair of the tail and flanks. 



Rockhill reports (1891, p. 177) that the hills around a plain south 

 of the Yellow River, in eastern Tibet, were black with Yaks, which 

 were little molested by man. "They could be seen by thousands." 



Bower (1894, p. 286) also testifies to their former abundance: 

 "Herds, and occasionally solitary old bulls, are to be seen all over 

 the Chang. Sometimes as many as a hundred were seen in a day, 

 and for days together some were always in sight." 



"In Ladak the great district for yak is the Chang-chenmo valley, 

 and the dreary regions between this and the upper Indus; but these 

 animals are yearly becoming scarcer within the territories under the 

 rule of the Maharaja of Kashmir, although reported to be numerous 

 in Tibet proper" (Lydekker, 1900, p. 68). 



Hedin (1899, vol. 2, pp. 1019-1021) was told that 



in Cherchen, Charkhlik, and Achan (places at the northern foot of the 

 Kwen-lun mountains) there lived . . . hunters, who gained their livelihood 

 almost entirely by hunting the yak. Their hunting grounds are the Arka- 

 tagh and Chimen-tagh, in Northern Tibet. Each hunter takes with him two 

 men, and a donkey to carry home the skin. But generally two or more 

 hunters work together, so as to support one another if they are attacked by 

 the yak. . . . 



The best leather is obtained from the section off the back .... It is 

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