390 Miscellaneous. 
figured by Gmelin; but Prof. Walker committed the extraordinary’ 
mistake of figuring and describing an Indian Ghor-khur for a Kyang, 
so that the alleged distinctions which he has pointed out are value- 
less. However this mistake originated, there is no doubt whatever 
of the fact *.” ; 
Now I am ina position to say quite positively that Dr. Walker 
was right, and that Mr. Blyth is wrong, in the matter of fact. The 
animal in question was bought in my presence for the late Mr. 
Thomason for Rs. 100, at the fair at Bagesar in Kumaon, from a 
Tuhari Bhotiya by whom it had been obtained in Tibet. The story of 
its attachment to the pony, to which Mr. Blyth also alludes, is odd ; 
and I will state it in full, with the hope that I may satisfy everybody 
that I really do know something of the personal history of Dr. 
Walker’s Kyang. 
Mr. Thomason paid a visit to Almora (the capital of Kumaon) at 
the end of 1847, I was there at the time; and so was my brother, 
Mr. John Strachey. We heard of the Kyang; and Mr. Thomason 
having been informed of its existence, asked my brother to buy it 
for him, and to send it down to Calcutta, to be forwarded thence to 
England for the Zoological Society. The animal was bought, as I 
before said. But on attempting to remove it from the place where it 
was tied up, it most flatly refused to stir ; neither coaxing nor force 
was of any use. We were rather puzzled what to do, when, on inquiry 
of its old Bhotiya owner, we learned that it had always been in com- 
pany with a white pony for which it had a strong affection. It then 
occurred to us that if we got the pony too, the Kyang might be 
induced to follow where the pony led; and so it turned out. One or 
two attempts were made subsequently to surprise the Kyang into a 
more independent sort of existence, but it was of no use, and so the 
pony and he went off to Calcutta together. 
The end of the pair was tragical. In a gale of wind off the Cape, 
the Kyang died ; and the captain somewhat savagely threw the pony 
overboard alive, as his existence seemed no longer necessary after the 
Kyang’s death. 
Thus much as to the Kyang’s identity. I must add, however, that 
although I am thus forced to point out Mr. Blyth’s mistake in this 
matter of fact, I in reality corroborate the force of his arguments as to 
the probable specific identity of the two Asses—the Kyang and the 
Ghor-khur. It is obvious that Dr. Walker’s description of a true 
Kyang answers perfectly for a true Ghor-khur; and, as Mr. Blyth 
observes (though in a somewhat different sense), the alleged distinc- 
tions pointed out by Dr. Walker are probably valueless enough. 
I have no pretensions to such a knowledge of zoology or anatomy 
as would make my opinion of any weight on the guestion of specific 
identity ; but I may add a few words as to some of the more pro- 
minent features of the Kyang, having seen many of these animals 
dead and alive. 
In the first place, my impression as to the voice of the Kyang is 
that it isa shrieking bray—not like that of the common Ass, but 
* Annals for October, p. 234. 
