IX.] KASHMIR. 359 



closely-allied form in Cyprus. Of the goats, the Spanish ibex 

 (Capra pyrenaica) is restricted to the mountains of Spain; while 

 the Sinaitic ibex (C. sinaitica) represents the group in Palestine 

 and upper Egypt. Among the Cervidcz, the two species of fallow- 

 deer were originally confined to this area, the common Cervus 

 dama being a native of the Mediterranean countries, while the 

 Persian C. mesopotamicus is found in the mountains of Luristan, in 

 Mesopotamian Persia. In North Africa the ordinary red deer is 

 represented by a variety distinguished by the invariable absence of 

 a bez-tine to the antlers. A connection with the Tibetan sub- 

 region is afforded by the wild asses inhabiting the desert-plains 

 between the Red Sea and the Indus, since both these and the 

 Tibetan form are but varieties of a single species (Equus hemi- 

 onus). Lastly, Ethiopian affinities are exhibited by the occurrence 

 of a species of hyrax (Procavid] in Syria. In the early part of the 

 present century the hippopotamus still inhabited lower Egypt, 

 while, as we have seen, the lion, which is now common in parts of 

 Persia, was found within the historic period in Thrace. At a still 

 earlier date, both these animals, as well as the spotted hyaena, 

 extended as far north as England. 



On the whole, therefore, the fauna of this sub-region is a very 

 mixed one ; and this fact, together with the difficulty in defining 

 its boundaries, suggests the need of further deliberation before the 

 area is raised to the rank of a separate region. The former con- 

 nections between southern Europe and Africa having been alluded 

 to in an earlier part of the chapter, require no further notice in 

 this place. 



Very difficult to determine is the position which should be 

 given to the valley of Kashmir, since its fauna 

 exhibits such a mingling of Oriental and Holarctic 

 types that it might almost be as well assigned to one region as the 

 other. Holarctic affinities are, however, exhibited by the occur- 

 rence of a species of the red deer group, Cervus cashmirianus, and 

 likewise by one of the rodent genus Sminthus, of which the 

 second species inhabits northern and eastern Europe, and the 

 third Kansu, in western China. A variety of the brown bear is 

 also indicative of Holarctic affinities, and this is still more 

 markedly the case with the spiral-horned goat known as the 



