1028 



NOTES ON GAME ANIMALS FROM NEAR GYANTSE 

 AND IN THE CHUMBI VALLEY. 



BY 



Captain F. M. Bailey. 

 (With a Plate). 



After a residence of 3-g- years at Gyantse and in the Chumbi 

 Valley, I venture to think that a few random observations in the 

 game animals ftrand in those places may be of interest to readers 

 of this journal. 



The two localities are entirely different in character and fauna. 

 Gyantse lies a hundred miles to the north of the main Himalayan 

 watershed, at a height of 13,000 feet, and has an average rainfall 

 of some seven inches, the surrounding country being treeless and 

 bare, except for thorny scrub in some of the stream beds ; while 

 the road reaches a height of 15,200 feet where no vegetation 

 except scanty grass and moss can exist. Chumbi on the other 

 hand is on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, the annual rain- 

 fall at the British Trade Agency (at 9,800 feet) being about 

 seventy inches. The ground here is much steeper and is covered 

 with pine and rhododendron forest to a height of 14,000 feet. The 

 fauna of Chumbi resembles that of the Upper Himalayan Valleys, 

 while that of Gyantse is Tibetan, and the Tibetan fauna extends 

 into the Chumbi Valley for a few miles south of the Tangla. 

 Game is generally plentiful at places a short distance on either 

 side of the road. In May 1909, on one day's march, I saw 17 

 Ovis ammon, 25 Burhel and 64 Tibetan Gazelle. A list of the 

 game animals shot during the four years 1906-1909 is appended. 

 Only shootable heads were entered in the game book : — 



