1901.] THE ABYSSIJflAN WOLF. 283 



scrubby bushes, the whole reminding me very much of where I 

 have shot Thar in Kistowar, Kashmir, and being quite unKke any 

 ground where I had previously seen Ibex. 



" Even when the animals were feeding in the early morning and 

 late afternoon, it was by no means easy to make them out amongst 

 the undergrowth. 



" At the foot of the mountain large flocks of sheep and goats 

 were grazing, being sheltered at night iu caves, the openings of 

 which were protected by stone walls and wattles. 



" Lower down there was a large stretch of cultivated laud, and 

 several groups of huts forming the village of Lourey. 



" Although I had a special letter from the Emperor Menelik to 

 the Governor of Simien, and from the latter to the different 

 headmen, they placed every sort of passive obstacle in the way of 

 my shooting Ibex, and one and all seemed most anxious to get 

 me out of the country as quickly as possible, in spite of their 

 receiving all the meat killed, besides presents and liberal rewards." 



Mr. Rothschild pointed out that the principal differences 

 separating this Ibex from Capra nubiana were the shorter beard 

 and the horns, which are thick and stout and more like those of 

 Capra sibiriea. It differed from all the other Ibexes in the bony 

 pi'otuberance on the forehead. 



E-iippell's type had the horns only 25 inches long, measured 

 over the curve ; but Captain Powell-Cotton's largest adult male 

 had horns 43^ and 43-| in., while his smallest had them 41^- and 

 41 in. 



The Hon. Walter Eothschild also exhibited a mounted speci- 

 men of the Abyssinian Wolf (Oanis simensis Eiippell), and made 

 the following remarks : — 



This very distinct and curious species has hitherto only been 

 known to science from the type specimen in the British Museum, 

 and the accounts of its discoverer. Dr. Edward Eiippell. Last 

 year, during his very successful expedition through Abyssinia, 

 Captain Powell-Cotton obtained four males and one female, one of 

 which forms the basis of this note. Captain Pov/ell-Cotton first 

 met with this curious animal in the highlands of Gogain, just 

 north of Abbai. None were observed in the low hot country or 

 along the west of Lake Tana, except on 2nd April, 1900, when 

 three were met with together, evidently in search of a female. 

 They were always seen singly and in the neighbourhood of large 

 colonies of a short-tailed brown rat with pale hind-quarters, 

 which is their chief food. They appear to be about in the early 

 morning and at night. The colour of this animal is a curious 

 mixture of chestnut and greyish white, which produces the effect 

 of the colour known in horses as " red roan." 



This species can at once be distinguished from all other true 

 Wolves by its very long and narrow and slender skull. 



Dr. Eiippell records it as inhabiting most provinces of Abys- 

 sinia, hunting sheep and smaller wild animals iu packs, and 



