32 THE JURROW. 



with us had been more successful on the hillside than we 

 were on the river. He had taken one of our rifles and had 

 managed to bring down a good jurrow. This fine large deer 

 is identical with the " maha " of the Terai, and the " sambur " 

 of other parts of India. It affects heavy forest or its im- 

 mediate vicinity, and is widely distributed over Hindustan 

 from the higher ranges, close to the perpetual snows, to Cape 

 Comorin. The colour and texture of its pile, which nature 

 has adapted for the various climates of the localities where 

 this animal is found, differ considerably. The prevailing hue 

 of the stags is, however, a dark slaty brown, the throat and 

 neck being covered with long wiry hair. The colour of the 

 hind is of a lighter brown shade, and she has less of the 

 long hair, resembling a mane, on her neck. The jurrow of the 

 higher Himalayas has a darker and thicker coat, and it is also 

 provided with a close undergrowth of very soft pile, called 

 pushum, which in winter is common to all the quadrupeds 

 of those high, cold regions, even to the dogs and horses. 

 Having shot all the so-called three varieties, I am certain 

 that, in point of appearance, this is the only difference be- 

 tween them, and in habits they are the same. Though not 

 unlike the British red-deer in shape, the jurrow is very much 

 larger. But it seldom or never has more than three regular 

 points on each horn, though occasionally it may have one or 

 two extra snags. I possess a pair of jurrow horns which 

 measure forty-two inches in length, with an average girth of 

 beam of eight inches, and a span of a yard inside the bend. 

 But such a jurrow head as this never fell to my rifle, and 

 seldom, I imagine, to that of any one else. The eyepits in 

 this deer are always large, and become much more open and 

 protuberant when the animal is in an excited state. 



The little barking-deer (Cervulus aureus), also termed rib- 

 faced deer, from the peculiar formation of the frontal bone, 

 and called " kakur " by the hill-men, was common in these 

 forests. It is found in most Indian jungles, and, like the 



