168 IN MALAY FORESTS. 



horn. The Mongols sometimes confound the unicorn with the 

 rhinoceros, called in Mantchou bodi-gourgou and in Sanscrit 

 khadga, calling the latter also leered 



The Thibetan tradition of how a unicorn saved 

 India from the Tartar hordes that overran the rest 

 of Asia is not as widely known as it deserves in a 

 land where a lion and a unicorn are the supporters 

 of the Crown. 



"When Jengis Khan had subdued Thibet in A.D. 1224, 

 he set out to conquer India. As he was ascending Mount 

 Djadanaring he perceived a wild beast approaching him. It 

 was one of the species called serou, which has but one horn 

 on the top of the head. This beast knelt thrice before the 

 monarch, as if to show him respect. Every one being aston- 

 ished at this event, the monarch exclaimed : ' The Empire of 

 Hindustan is, they say, the birthplace of the majestic Buddhas 

 and Buddhistavas, and also of the powerful Bogdas or princes 

 of antiquity. What, then, can be the meaning of this dumb 

 animal saluting me like a human being ? ' 



"Having thus spoken, he returned to his country." 



This " curious animal " is the one known to 

 Indian sportsmen as the serow, and to zoologists as 

 Nemerhedus or the " goat -antelope." It is not, of 

 course, one-horned ; and the only foundation for this 

 belief that I can imagine is, firstly, its rarity, and 

 secondly, perhaps, an artistic cult of drawing the 

 animal in profile, and thus only showing one horn. 



Nemerhedus has a range from Cashmere along 

 the Himalayas to Thibet, from Thibet to the Burmo- 

 Chinese frontier, and from Burmah down to the 

 Malay Peninsula. It is also found in Sumatra. 



Bubalinus, thibetanus, and sumatrensis are the 

 names with which scientific men have thought fit 



