wild one, but there is little other difference : most tame ones are black, but many are 

 more or less marked with white (the invariable result of domestication), and occasional 

 brown, dun, and grey specimens are seen. 



The flesh of the wild Yak is excellent, the beef being fine in grain and of capital flavor, 

 but that which I have tasted has always been very lean. The tongue and marrowbones are 

 delicacies not to be despised, especially in a country where one has so little variety of food. 



It has been said that a wounded Yak will not charge, but this is a mistake. A friend of 

 mine was charged by a wounded cow, which came at him in a most determined way ; and 

 I have heard of several similar instances. The only bull which I have shot showed every 

 disposition to fight, but the poor brute had not much chance. 



My first expeditions in search of Yak were singularly unsuccessful, and it seemed as if 

 the Fates had decreed that I should never get one : however, I persevered, and at last 

 succeeded in bagging the fine bull whose portrait is here given. 



I first visited Chung Chenmo in 1861, but I had very little time for shooting, and could 



only devote three days to hunting the Kyobrung valley ; and as two friends accompanied 



me, my chances of sport were of course not improved. On the 27th of July, S. and I had 



fired at some Thibetan Antelope, and fancying that one was wounded, I wept off alone in 



pursuit. I had not gone far before I saw an old bull Yak trotting up the ravine I was in, 



having evidently been disturbed by our shots. He was far out of shot, but I followed up 



his tracks as fast as possible in hopes of overtaking him. After tracking him along the 



valley for some way, I found he had turned up a narrow and very steep ravine, so narrow 



indeed, that he had only just room to pass between the lofty walls of rock on either side. 



I followed him up this gorge, and had a long and fatiguing climb to the top of a very high 



hill covered with loose shale. It took me a long time to reach the summit, and when I at 



last arrived there, I saw the bull standing sentry on a rocky peak about half a mile off. 



I lay down and watched him for about two hours, during which time he scarcely moved, only 



occasionally turning round, and keeping a most vigilant watch. At last he disappeared over 



the hill, and I hastened to the spot he had vacated. From thence I again saw him standing 



perfectly motionless on the hill-side about three hundred yards farther on. After watching 



for a short time and seeing that he did not appear inclined to move, I proceeded to stalk 



him. Making a detour, I reached the top of the ridge under which he was standing, and on 



looking over I saw the tips of his horns, but a large rock concealed his body. Drawing 



back, I went on a few yards, and on again looking over, fully expected to have had an easy 



shot within sixty or seventy yards ; instead of which to my horror, I saw the bull galloping 



straight down the hill, tail on end, about a quarter of a mile below me. He had either got 



my wind, or, more probably, been alarmed by some of our men whom I heard shouting in 



the valley below. I tracked him down to the river, and then, as it was nearly dark, returned 



to camp, fully intending to follow up the bull in the morning. 



Next morning however, the ground was covered with snow, so tracking was out of the 

 question, and though S. and I hunted every nullah to the head of the Kyobrung valley, we 

 could find no traces of the Yak. 



