ANIMALS AND BIRDS 115 



The country appears to be thinly inhabited, and I 

 noticed a change in the headgear worn, for liere the 

 hat, instead of being small, is made of two thicknesses 

 of heavy felt, the inside being of a light colour and the 

 outer black, or nearly so, the brim being much turned 

 up. I found that this shape is peculiar to Western 

 China and Eastern Tibet, where it is exclusively worn. 

 Indian corn is grown and also potatoes, which have 

 been introduced by the French missionaries. There is 

 not, however, much cultivated ground, the country 

 generally being thickly wooded, the surface rugged, 

 and in places large, steep, detached hills, with sides 

 partly precipitous, are found. The long and graceful 

 bamboo is not seen, its place being taken by a shorter 

 and more scrubby variety; I was told that tigers, 

 leopards, bears, and antelope abounded, and also that 

 the wild ox, which I suppose to be the Budorcas of 

 Pere David, is found on the slopes at the base of Mount 

 Wa. The only part of one of these that I was fortunate 

 enough to see was a piece of the hide. They are 

 reputed to be very active and fierce, and are hunted in 

 the winter by the Lolos for the sake of their flesh, 

 which makes good beef. They are of a grey colour, 

 with horns large and spreading, meeting at tlie base 

 and turned back at the point. The tragopan is fairly 

 plentiful, and the beautiful Amherst pheasant is common. 



