206 



THE YAK AND THE MUSK OX. 



out of all proportion to the slender legs that appear from under it and 

 seem to bend beneath its weight. Yet the Bison is an enduring as well 

 as a swift animal, and is also remarkably sure of foot, going at full 

 speed over localities where a horse would soon be brought to a 

 halt. 



The Yak, or Grunting Ox, derives its name from its very peculiar 

 voice, which sounds much like the grunt of a pig. It is a native of 

 the mountains of Thibet, and, according to Hodson, it inhabits all 

 the loftiest plateaus of High Asia, between the Altai and the Him- 

 alayas. 



The heavy fringes of hair that decorate the sides of the Yak do not 

 make their appearance until the animal has attained three months in 

 age, the calves being covered with rough curling hair not unlike that 

 of a black Newfoundland dog. The beautiful white bushy tail of the 

 Yak is in great request for various ornamental purposes, and forms 

 quite an important article of commerce. Dyed red, it is formed into 

 those curious tufts that decorate the caps of the Chinese, and when 

 properly mounted in a silver handle, it is used as a fly-flapper in India 

 under the name of " chowrie." These tails are carried before certain 

 officers of state, their number indicating the rank. 



The curiously-shaped horns of the Musk Ox, its long woolly hair 

 falling almost to the ground in every direction, so as nearly to conceal 



its legs, together with the 

 peculiar form of the head 

 and snout, are unfailing 

 characteristics whereby it 

 can be discriminated from 

 any other animal. The 

 horns of the Musk Ox are 

 extremely large at their 

 J base, and form a kind of 

 ,,|^ helmet upon the summit of 

 the forehead. They then 

 sweep boldly downward, and 

 are again hooked upward 

 toward the tips. This cu- 

 rious form of the horns is 

 noticed only in the male, as 

 the horns of the female are set very widely apart from the sides of the 

 forehead, and are simply curved. The muzzle is covered with hair, 

 with the exception of a very slight line around the nostrils. 



This animal is an inhabitant of the extreme north of America, being 

 seldom seen south of the sixty-first degree of latitude, and ascending 

 as high as the seventy-fifth. It lives, in fact, in the same country which 



T^ 



The Musk Ox (Oribos moschatvs). 



