CHAPTER VI. 



THE THIBETAN WOLF. 



Canis Laniger. 



THE THIBETAN BLACK WOLF. 



Canis Niger. 



In Thibet (The grey), Chdnko ; (The black), Chdnko Ndgpo. 



WOLVES of at least two sorts are found all over Thibet, and I am not sure that there are 

 not three varieties. I know of two, the common grey ' Chanko ' and the black one, called by 

 the Tartars ' Chanko Nagpo ' (Black Wolf) and which they say is fiercer and larger than the 

 other, and will even kill Kyang. I have heard of a so-called ' Golden Wolf,' but whether it 

 was a light colored specimen of the common Chanko, or a different variety, I am unable to 

 say. 



The Chanko is not gregarious in its habits, being usually found singly or in pairs ; but 

 such is its strength and ferocity, that it commits considerable havoc among the flocks and 

 herds belonging to the Tartars, apparently preferring the slaughter of tame animals to the 

 harder task of circumventing wild ones. At any rate they are always to be found hano-ino- 

 on to the outskirts of the Tartar flocks. The common Chanko is about the same size as the 

 .common Wolf ; he is of a yellowish grey color, with very long and soft hair. The black 

 Chanko is rather larger than the grey one ; he is of a beautiful glossy black, with a small 

 white star on the chest, and a few grey hairs about the muzzle. 



I have only a few times had the luck to meet with the common Chanko. The first I 

 ever saw was at the head of the Kyobrung Valley, amidst the desolate solitude which I have 

 already attempted to describe. I had penetrated to the very sources of the streams in search 

 of Yak, and had begun to retrace my steps without having seen a sign of life, when I sud- 

 denly caught sight of a Chanko, trotting quietly along the bottom of a ravine below me. I 

 whistled to attract his attention, and on his stopping to listen fired a shot at him ; he dropped 

 with a howl, but quickly recovered himself, and made off with a broken shoulder, and though 

 I immediately followed him up, I soon lost the trail and failed to bag him. On other occa- 

 sions I saw Chanko in the neighbourhood of Hanle, and wounded another, but lost him. 



