314 THE WILD YAK, 



ture is like. Imagine, then, a clumsy bovine animal, 1 standing 

 from 16 to 18 hands at the shoulder, which is considerably 

 higher than the croup, with a rough coat of a general rusty 

 black inclining to greyish on the withers ; a large, stooping 

 head, slightly grey on the face and about the muzzle, and set on 



Yak, 



a rather lean neck ; curly grizzled hair all over the forehead, 

 almost concealing the eyes ; thick round horns from 2 to 

 3 feet long, and about 18 inches in girth, growing outwards, 

 curving to the front, and turning upwards near their points ; 

 an enormous bushy black tail, extending below the hocks ; a 

 thick fringe of long, matted, black hair hanging from the 

 shoulders, sides, and flanks, and reaching about half-way 

 down the short sturdy limbs, and you have some sort of idea 

 of a bull dong as he is here called. The cows have much the 



1 Dimensions of a wild bull yak shot by Colonel E. Smyth : circumference 

 of horn at base, 18 inches ; length of ditto, 36 inches. Space between the 

 eyes, 16 inches ; between the horns to tip of nose, 29^ inches ; between horns 

 to root of tail, 8 feet 5 inches ; length of tail, 37 inches. Height, 18 hands, 

 or 6 feet (as far as it was possible to take it of a dead animal). Circumference 

 of fore-foot, 21 f inches ; ditto hind-foot, 19 inches. Girth round belly, 9 feet 

 8 inches ; ditto round shoulder, 10 feet 1 inch ; ditto round neck at thinnest 

 part, 4 feet 2 inches. This animal (or else one shot at the same time, a little 

 smaller) is now in the Leeds museum, very well stuffed and set up. 



