428 THE STORY OF THE YAK. 



of the head and neck in very old individuals. Around the muzzle there is a 

 little white. We frequently find the yak represented as a brown and white, 

 or even a pure white animal, but all such specimens are domesticated, and 

 mostly hybrid individuals. 



When I visited a Thibetan monastery I was struck with the number of 

 yak-tails suspended as streamers from tall poles fixed in the ground before 

 the entrance. The more general use of these appendages throughout the 

 East is, however, in the form of fiy-whisks. For this purpose pure white 

 tails are preferred; and they are frequently mounted with the twisted horn 

 of a black-buck as a handle. In China yak-tails dyed red are affixed to the 

 roofs of the residences as pendants. 



Although the yak is timid and runs away at the approach of the hunter, 

 I had a different experience with an old blackish bull yak that I wounded 

 without killing. He charged at me with his head down, and was so close 

 that I had little chance to run. I was in an open space, and there was not 

 a tree in sight. Fortunately there was a large rock near by, and I ran 

 behind it. The maddened yak dashed against the rock with such violence 

 that its skull was fractured and it fell dead from the terrific shock. 



There are many domesticated yaks in Central Asia. In some sections they 

 are used at the plow, and can also be broken to ride, but they are usually vicious. 

 Those used for riding are guided by the nose. In the summer the wild yaks 

 shrink from the heat and make their homes on the loftiest plateaus of the 

 mountains. 



