172 TWO YEAES IN THE JUNGLE. 



length of head and body 35^ inches. The body color of the ani- 

 mal is a clear, bright reddish bay. The antlers, which are 4 to 5 

 inches long, are set up on two round pedestals of bone 2.V inches 

 high, covered with skin and densely hairy. There are two long, 

 black ridges of skin and two corresponding furrows extending 

 down the face, which, together with its curious antlers, give the lit- 

 tle animal a very strange appearance. The legs ai-e short, the hind- 

 quarters round and heavy, and it can neither run fast nor far. The 

 head is always, carried low, which enables the defenceless little 

 creature to creep thi'ough tangled jungle faster than its enemies 

 can foUow. It has a very peculiar ci-y, which is really a bai'k, like 

 the yapping of a small dog. The first time I heard it in the jungle 

 I thought, until told otherwise, it was a dog barking. Twice by its 

 cry alone I have found and shot this " barking deer." Each pecu- 

 liarity of this strange little animal has caused it to receive a sep- 

 arate name, so that, besides muntjac, it is called " rib-faced deer," 

 "barking deer," "red hog deer," and worst of all, "jungle sheep," 

 from the manner in which it carries its head and neck. The flesh 

 of the muntjac is the finest venison I ever tasted, and in fact, aside 

 from birds, I know no wild meat equal to it. Could it be placed 

 upon the table of an epicure, I am sure it would be counted a gi-eat 

 delicacy. The meat is very fine-gTained, tender, but seldom fat, 

 and possesses an exquisite game flavor quite peculiar to itself, 

 which is indescribable. The most dehcious soup I ever tasted was 

 made from the flesh of a muntjac. 



The Neilgherry goat, or " ibex " of sportsmen (Hemitragus hylo- 

 crius), inhabits various precipitous places in the Animallais, and is 

 now quite abundant. A sportsman on the Neilgherries does well if 

 he kills one or two in a w'eek, but here I was told of two gentlemen 

 killing six in one day. Once we went after goats to a rocky cliif near 

 feungam, the elephant camp, six miles from Toonacadavoo, and 

 after a long, laborious chmb to the summit, we found one lying 

 on a narrow ledge of rock, half-w' ay down the side of the precipice, 

 and far out of range. We took a good look at him through 

 the glass, and watched him until he finally got up and sauntered 

 out of sight, but we never saw him again. How he ever got down 

 to that narrow ledge on the face of a smooth, perpendicular wall 

 of rock, was moi-e than I could see ; nor could I divine why he 

 chose to go in the most dangerous place he could find, unless to 

 escape his enemies. The only specimen of this wild goat I secured 

 was shot for me by Arndee and brought in quite fresh. With so 



