348 THE GOA OE TIBETAN GAZELLE. 



which ranges between 15,000 and 17,000 or more feet, are a 

 favourite haunt of the goa. 



Standing from 22 to 24 inches in height, on most delicately 

 formed limbs, the goa, or Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticau- 

 data), is perhaps one of the most graceful little creatures that 

 exists. Its general colour is a pale brownish fawn ; the head 

 is light fawn, but in old bucks the hair on the forehead and 

 about the roots of the horns is white. On the stern is a pure- 

 white disc bordered distinctly with a yellowish-brown mark. 

 The tail is dark brown, and very short. The horns, which in 

 a full-grown buck are 11 or 12 inches long, are more curved 

 than those of the Indian gazelle ; they are closely annulated 

 to within about 2 inches of their tips, where they turn slightly 

 upwards, and sometimes inwards, and from being planted 

 rather forward, and springing well upward in their curve, 

 they give the beautifully formed little head a most jaunty 

 appearance. The doe almost exactly resembles the buck, 

 except that she carries no horns. In this respect she dif- 

 fers from the female Indian gazelle, which has small horns. 

 I do not think the goa's sense of smell is quite so acute as 

 that of other Tibetan game-animals, but this is compensated 

 for by its wonderfully keen sight. The nature and height of 

 the ground it frequents I have already described. 



We were very glad to quit Hanle, the immediate vicinity 

 of which was next thing to a marsh, from the quantity of rain 

 that had fallen during the preceding month, and was infested 

 with hungry gnats. The periodical rains, which had been 

 abnormally heavy all over India, seemed this year, contrary 

 to custom, to have found their way across the Himalayas into 

 Tibet. As regards the wild animals, too, this season was 

 considered by sportsmen, and by Tibetans who were at all 

 acquainted with the habits of game, to have been an excep- 

 tional one. Vegetation was, comparatively speaking, so un- 

 usually plentiful, consequent on the quantity of rain, that in 

 many places the animals had deserted their regular feeding- 



