66 



doubtless have attained to much greater dimensions. Their length 

 is 32 inches, measured over the front ridge, and girth at base 14^ 

 inches, having a span of 12i inches from base to tip inside: from 

 the tip to first annual depression they measure 12^ inches, and then 

 successively 6^, 5|-, 4J, and the incipient fifth year's growth 2 inches. 

 They do not bulge between the angles, which are rather obtuse, and, 

 as usual, are transversely striated. Approximate distance of the 

 tips apart 33 inches. 



" ' From the testimony of the Indian tribes about the Great Falls 

 of the Columbia River,' writes Mr. Douglas, ' this species appears 

 to inhabit the subalpine regions of Mounts Wood, St. Helen's, and 

 Vancouver, but is more numerous in the mountainous districts of the 

 interior of California. The only good skin that ever came under 

 my observation was in lat. 46° 14' 55", and long. 121° 17' 0".* 

 Forbes, in his recent work on California, appears to allude to it by 

 the name of Berindo, which in Mexico is applied to the Antilocapra 

 furcifera. He quotes, however, the description by Venegos, inclu- 

 ding the statement that it has a short tail, and remarks, that ' they 

 still abound in the plains at the foot of the mountains, and are 

 always found in large herds.' It does not, from the context, appear 

 to me that the prong-horned animal is intended. 



" From these we might proceed, through the domestic Aries, to 

 the species generally typified by the Moufflon of Corsica ; but I shall 

 interpolate a small group frorh the Himalaya, and apparently Cau- 

 casus, distinguished by having smooth and sub -cylindrical horns, 

 that form a bold arc outwards at nearly right angles with the axis 

 of the body, and have the tip turned backward. Such is 



" 6. O. Nahoor, Hodgson ; the Nahoor or Nervati, and Sna (not 

 Sha) of Thibet. Size of the larger breeds of tame sheep, with pale 

 horns, and general colour dull brownish grey in old animals, with 

 the ordinary dark markings on the face, breast, and limbs, more or 

 less developed. Younger specimens, more particularly, have their 

 coat, when renovated, tipped with a light fulvous tint, deeper along 

 the middle of the back ; the tail is bushy, and conspicuously white, 

 its medial portion generally dark. Length, as given by Mr. Hodg- 

 son, 4 feet from nose to base of tail, and height of the back 32 

 inches. A female was 3 feet 4 inches, from nose to tail, and stood 

 29 inches high at the shoulder. From nose to between the horns 

 a male measured S^ inches ; the ears 4|- inches ; and tail 4 inches, 

 or 7 inches to the end of the hair. A pair of horns in the museum 

 of this Society, which are far from having attained their full growth, 

 measure 12 inches in circumference at base, and 20^ inches long 

 over the curvature, having their tips 27 inches asimder : their suc- 

 cessive annupj growths were respectively 6^, 4, 3, 2|, 2^, and 1|, 

 inches. Mr. Hodgson mentions a pair that were each 32 inches 

 long. Those of a very old female in the British Museum have pre- 

 cisely the same curvature as in the male, only that the tips do not 

 turn so much backwards ; they are, however, much compressed, and 

 measure 9| inches long, 4^ inches round, with the tips 14 inches 

 apart. Another female, in the collection of this Society, is entirely 



