MAMMALS 47 



rare. The jackal is not uncommon, and there is at 

 least one species of wild-dog. These dogs hunt in 

 packs and kill wild-pig, deer, goats, etc. A very 

 peculiar and interesting animal is the cat-bear, 

 which has the head and arms of a minute bear and 

 the tail of a cat. The brown bear occurs at high 

 altitudes, and the Himalayan black bear is common 

 lower down. The black hill squirrel is a large hand- 

 some animal of the lower forests, and a very hand- 

 some flying squirrel inhabits the forests between 

 5,000 and 10,000 feet. 



The great Sikkim stag is not found in Sikkim 

 proper, but inhabits the Chumbi Valley. The 

 sarnbhar stag is abundant. The commonest of the 

 deer tribe is the khakar, or barking deer. It is, 

 says Hodgson, unmatched for flexibility and power 

 of creeping through tangled underwood. The musk 

 deer remains at high elevations. 



In addition to the above, elephants come up 

 from the forests in the plains, and in these plain 

 forests are found (besides tigers and boars) rhino- 

 ceros, bison, and buffalo. 



This has been a long enumeration of the animal 

 life, in its many branches, which is found in the forest. 

 The mere cataloguing of it is sufficient to show the 

 extent and variety of insect, bird, reptile, and 

 mammal life which the forest contains. But it is 

 with the beauty of this animal life, rather than with 

 its extent and variety, that we are concerned. And 

 if the Artist is to see its full beauty, he must see it 

 with the eyes of the naturalist and sportsman men 

 whose eyes are trained to observe in minutest detail 



