488 



NATURE 



March 24, 1881 



glimpse of one, much less a shot. On one occasion I 

 was lucky enough to see one, and this was by mere acci- 

 dent, and when not in search of game. I have often 

 been told fabulous stories about the Nigou, the native 

 name for this wary animal. They were supposed to have 

 one horn, and to use this single frontal ornament as a 

 means of hanging on to trees as well as in self-defence. 

 After some years of anticipation and endeavour to get 

 even a dead specimen, I got a couple, and then, strange 

 to say, several others were brought to me. A young 

 male, alive, was caught, after its mother was shot. 

 Only one specimen of all that were brought to me by the 

 native hunters had both their horns intact — always one, 

 and often both, being more or less broken. In hunting 

 them with dogs, it soon became evident why this was so 

 generally the case. The Japanese, who knew the ani- 

 mal's habits intimately, invariably placed me near some 

 huge bare slab of rock, on which the Nigou, when pressed 



^^^^ivlWWlt^ 



Fic. 6 —The Jai 



by the dogs, was expected to appear, and on looking at 

 these slippery sloping platforms, I tried to conjecture — 

 when waiting for the animal to appear— where, if I 

 knocked one over, it would tumble, and what shape or 

 form it would be in by the time it stopped. I could 

 then easily understand why the horns were usually so 

 damaged. 



■' I have no doubt also they are often caught in the 

 bushes or trees by the slightly turned-back horns, on 

 their falling and reaching the foot of these rocks; hence 

 the origin of the story of their holding on to the trees. 



" The young one which was brought to me alive was 

 the most fierce little thing I ever saw. Any dog, large or 

 small, that approached its cage, down went its head, and 

 with a quick sudden spring the creature invariably came 

 bang up against the wooden bars. Its horns were about 

 two inches long, as sharp as needles, and quite capable of 

 inflicting a very nasty wound. 



" The colour of the ' Nigru ' is a brownish slate; the 



older they get the lighter-coloured they become. Until I 

 actually had one in my hands, I was unable to decide 

 whether they had a beard cr not, and was pleased to find 

 they do not possess this ornament — therefore they are 

 true antelopes, and not goats." 



For their unicjue specimens of this scarce animal the 

 Zoological Society are greatly indebted to the energetic co- 

 operation of oneof their Correspond ng Membeis, Mr. H. 

 Pryer of Yokohama, Japan, by whom it was transmitted 

 as a present to the Collection in April, 1879. The animal 

 was then quite young, but has now attained full stature, 

 and presents a very singular and characteristic appearance 

 — quite different from that of either goats or antelopes — 

 which is well shown in Mr. Smidt's drawing (Fig. 6). 



The goat-like or mountain antelopes, to which the 

 presents animal belongs, constitute a small group of the 

 family Bovidfe, which is distributed over the mountain 

 chains of Eastern Asia and its islands. The nearest 

 geographical neighbours of the 

 Japanese animal are Capti- 

 cornis Siuiithoii of Formosa, 

 ■ -r>. and C. caiidata of China. In 



i-^Jg the Himalayas the genus is 



represented by C. bitbalina — 

 the Thaar or Tahir of Indian 

 sportsmen, and in the higher 

 ranges of Sumatra by C. Suma- 

 trcnsis. In the Rocky Moun- 

 tains of North America is found 

 a far-separated member of the 

 same group, which is known 

 as the "Mountain Goat" by 

 the American hunters {Anti- 

 locapra Americana). Our Eu- 

 ropean Chamois {Ktipicapra 

 tragus) is not very distantly 

 related to these animals. 



7. Liihdorf's Deer (Ceivtis 

 Liie/idorji). — The existence in 

 North-Eastern Asia of a large 

 deer of the same form as the 

 North American "Wapiti " has 

 long been known, although the 

 animal has never been very 

 clearly identified. By some 

 authors it seems to have been 

 referred to the Red-deer {Cer- 

 z'us elcphas), by others to the 

 Persian Deer ( C. Maral), whilst 

 the horns upon which the 

 name Cervus cjistephanus was 

 founded by Blanford (in the 

 Zoological Society's Proceed- 

 ings for 1S75) appear to belong 

 to the same species. It is 

 only quite recently however that examples of this fine 

 animal have reached Europe alive, and its form and 

 characters have become better known. In the autumn 

 of 1876 two pairs of this deer were sent by Herr 

 Luhdorf, the German Consul at Nicolajefsk, on the 

 Pacific coast of Siberia, as a present to the Zoological 

 Garden of Hamburg. They had been brought down the 

 river Amoor from the far interior, having been obtained 

 from some Nomads in the Bureati Steppe of Northern 

 Mantschuria. The strangers throve well in their new 

 quarters at Hamburg under the care of Director Bolau, 

 and propagated their species. Several male fawns 

 having been produced, one of them was parted \fith 

 in exchange to our Zoological Society in London, and 

 received in the Regent's Paik in May last. From the 

 specimen thus obtained, which is at present unique in 

 this country, the accompanying illustration has been 

 prepared. 



It will be'at once evident to those who pre acquainted 



