14б 4<:ULAN' OK WILD ASS. 



over it at a trot. Hundreds and thousands may be 

 seen on a fine day disporting themselves in the open, 

 or basking in the sun near their holes ; and although 

 destroyed by eagles, buzzards, and hawks, wolves, 

 foxes, and steppe-foxes, they multiply so quickly as 

 to make up for all losses. 



The most remarkable animal of the steppes of 

 Koko-nor is the wild ass or kulan,^ called djang hy 

 the Tangutans {Equus Kiang), in size and external 

 appearance closely resembling the mule ; the colour 

 of the hair on the upper part of the body is light 

 chestnut, and white underneath. We saw them first 

 on the upper Tatung-gol, where the Kan-su moun- 

 tains are unwooded, and the pasturage is good. 

 The kulan ranges over Koko-nor, Tsaidam, and 

 Northern Tibet, but it is found in the greatest num- 

 bers in the first-named country. 



The steppes, however, are not its exclusive 

 habitat ; it is also found in the mountains wherever 

 grass and water are abundant. We occasionally saw 

 it on the lofty mountains of Northern Tibet, grazing 

 with the kuku-yamans. The kulans mostly keep 

 in troops of ten to fifty ; larger herds of several hun- 

 dred being only met with in the vicinity of Koko-nor ; 

 and it is not probable that they often congregate in 

 such large numbers, for when seen by us they invari- 



^ A woodcut of this animal, after Wolf, will be found in Yule's 

 ' Marco Polo,' 2nd ed., vol. i. p. 227. It was described by Pallas 

 and Moorcroft. See also Hooker's ' Himalayan Journals,' vol. ii. 

 p. 172. — M. Some naturalists have distinguished the Kiang, Pallas's 

 DsJiiggetai, from the Kulan of Western Turkestan, the Ghorkhar of 

 Persia. The late Mr. Blyth (jfour. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxviii.) says 

 they differ only in shades of colour and unimportant markings. — Y. 



