200 MONGOL HUNTERS. 



the herd to fire at several times. They are also 

 more wary and difficult to stalk than solitary bulls. 

 Out of a total of thirty-two yaks, shot by my com- 

 panion and myself during our expedition in Tibet, 

 only three were cows. The Mongols are terribly 

 afraid of the wild yak, and we were told that if a 

 caravan chance to come upon one lying down in a 

 narrow defile, they will halt and not venture to con- 

 tinue their journey till the animal has risen. The 

 Mongols of Tsaidam, however, often hunt the wild 

 yak, their chief inducement being the large quantity 

 of meat which it yields ; gluttony overcoming their 

 fears. The hunters, in parties of ten, proceed to 

 the haunts of this animal beyond the Shuga river ; 

 afraid to attack him in the open, they get behind 

 some ambush and deliver a volley, concealing them- 

 selves till the result of their fire has been ascertained. 

 The wounded beast, after looking in vain for the 

 aggressor, makes off, followed by the hunters at a 

 respectful distance, and if severely wounded the 

 next day he will be found dead. Of course it rarely 

 happens that a yak is killed on the spot by a bullet 

 fired from one of their wretched matchlocks. It 

 sometimes happens that after being wounded in the 

 way we have described, the infuriated beast en- 

 counters the horses of his pursuers, and gores them 

 terribly with his formidable horns. Besides eating 

 the yak beef, Mongols use the heart and blood of 

 this animal, taken internally, for medicinal purposes ; 

 the hides are sent to Tonkir, and ropes are spun 

 from the lone hair of the tail and flanks. 



