84 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



called " ibex," a beardless goat of the Nilgiris, 

 and a ewe is always posted as sentinel while 

 the rest of the herd feed or rest. The faithful 

 ewe takes up a commanding- position and never 

 slumbers at her post, though how she is per- 

 suaded not to feed or lie down with the rest is 

 one of those mysteries of animal life that we 

 are never likely to solve. Is it done under 

 compulsion, with all manner of pains and 

 penalties for carelessness, or is it a labour of 

 love ? 



The high places of Asia have their wild ox 

 as well ; the famous yak, which inhabits Tibet 

 at altitudes of fifteen thousand feet or more. 

 Many herds, indeed, rarely descend below that 

 level. It is found in the tame state as well as 

 in the wild ; but in Ladak, at any rate, there have 

 been no wild yak since 1887. How, with such 

 miserable fare as is provided by the starved 

 grasses of the mountain-tops, the yak manages 

 to grow so big and strong is a problem, yet 

 there are few wild oxen finer than this massive 

 brute of the mountains, standing nearly six feet 

 high, with its long black horns and hair. The 

 yak has been domesticated for centuries, and 

 among the eccentricities of the pure-bred 

 animal mention may be made of a distaste for 

 corn, which it is never able to overcome. It is 

 less keen-sighted than most animals of the 

 peaks, and, like the sheep and goats of the 



