THE 'MAN-BEAST' OF KAN-SU. 249 > 



they come above ground. They are remarkably 

 tenacious of Hfe, and will escape to their burrows 

 even though mortally wounded ; ^ nothing but killing 

 them outright will secure them for the hunter. They 

 begin to lie dormant in the second week in October, 

 and like the European marmot a great many will 

 conpfre^ate in one burrow. 



And now a few words about another of the 

 mammalia of Kan-su, viz. the bear. 



Before arriving in Kan-su we heard from the 

 Mongols of some extraordinary animal which ranged 

 through this province, and was known to the in- 

 habitants under the name of kttng-gm^esstL, i.e. ' man- 

 beast' We Avere told that it had a flat face like 

 that of a human being, and that it often walked on 

 two legs, that its body was covered with a thick 

 black fur, and its feet armed with enormous claws ; 

 that its strength was terrible, and that not only were 

 hunters afraid of attacking it, but that the inhabitants 

 removed their habitations from those parts of the 

 country which it visited. 



These accounts were corroborated by the Tangu- 

 tans in Kan-su, who one and all declared that an 

 animal answering to the above description inhabited 

 their mountains, but that it \vas rare. When we 

 questioned them if it were not a bear they shook 

 their heads, and assured us it was not, adding that 

 they knew well enough what a bear was like. 



^ Dr. Hooker mentions the extraordinary tenacity of life of the 

 Tibetan marmot (Hooker's Himalayan yournals, i. 93), and gives an 

 en^ravin^ of one of them. — Л1. 



