MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1071 



spring, but that this large herd breaks up into parties of 10 or 20 when it 

 is with difficulty that the native hunters can find and shoot them. They 

 are large heavy animals and should be shot with a heavy rifle. 



The ground on which I saw these animals as well as that on which I 

 saw tracks near Ta Chien Lu in Ssuchuan was steep, but it cannot 

 have been nearly so steep as that which the late Mr. Brook describes. 



I collected a good set of skins of diflferent ages and sexes but unfortu- 

 nately none of these survived the continual rain which fell when they 

 were shot and while they were being carried back to India. 



The Chinese name for Takin is " Ye-Niu " meaning " wild cattle." 

 Near Tachien Lu the Tibetans call them " Ya-Go," but near Rima the 

 Tibetan name is " Shing-Na." To the Miju Mishmis (i.e., those living 

 near Rima) they are known as " Kyem," while the Mishmis up the Dibang 

 river ( Chulik Atta tribe) call them "Akron." The Abor nanie is 

 " Siben-o ". Takin is the name used by the Digaru Mishmis who inhabit 

 the country where the Lohit river approaches the plains. 



The following: are some measurements of those obtained : — 



Sex. 



Head & 

 Body. 



Number 1. (figs. 1, PI. A. & B.) Male 5' 9" 4" 

 ,, 2. (figs. 2, PL A. & B.) Male . . 



The above two animals had very yellow coats. 

 Number 3. (figs. 3, PI. A. & B.) Male 6' 4" 



„ 4. (figs. 4, PL A. & B.) Male 6' 4" 4" 



These two were very large in size and darker than Nos. 1 and 2. 

 Number 5. (figs. 5, PL A. & B.) Female 5' 6" . . . . 15" 



„ 6 Female 5' 7*" . . . . 14^" 



F. M. BAILEY, Capt. 



Aligakh, U. p., March 1912. 



No. IX.— GAYAL OR MITHAN {BIB OS FRONTALIS). 



The photo here reproduced is that of a tame Mithan and was taken in 

 a Mishmi village. The Mishmis and Abors keep a few of these cattle. 

 They are not milked. Specimens are as a rule similarly coloured though 

 I have seen one with a white head. There are no wild Mithan in the 

 Mishmi or Abor hills. I was once shown a skull which the Mishmis said 

 was that of a wild Mithan : the horns of this specimen were longer and 

 more curved than those of the tame cattle and the skull was evidently 

 that of a Gaur. This had been killed by a native hunter in the plains at 

 the foot of the Mishmi hills. The skin and skull of the animal in the pho- 

 tograph have been given to the SocietJ^ 



