CHAPTER XXVII. 



THE STRAIGHT-HORNED MARKHOOR. 



Capra Jerdoni. 

 On North-West Frontier — Mdr-khur. 



IN the previous chapter I have given my reasons for considering that there are at least 

 two distinct species of Markhoor, and I need not recapitulate them, but will merely give a 

 brief description of the Sheikh Budi'n, or, as it is sometimes called, the Trans-Indus variety 

 of the straight-horned Markhoor. 



This Markhoor is very much smaller than any of the spiral-horned races, and the 

 beard and mane are much less developed. A reference to the photograph will explain the 

 shape of the horns better than any written description, and will show how entirely they 

 differ from those of the Kashmir Markhoor. I believe that the finest pair ever procured 

 on the Sheikh Budi'n hill measured thirty-two inches in length (direct measurement— not 

 alono- the spiral). Those here photographed are about twenty-four inches long. 



This wild goat inhabits the low but precipitous ranges on the right bank of the Indus 

 to the south of Attack, and is perhaps most numerous in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of the sanitarium already alluded to ; but I do not think that the exact limits of its distri- 

 bution are at all accurately known, and I have good reasons for suspecting that it may be 

 found in the hills between Attock and Kalabagh. 



The hills which it inhabits being destitute of forest, and merely sprinkled with a few 

 thorny bushes and stunted wild olive trees, the straight-horned Markhoor has fewer facilities 

 for concealment than its Kashmir relative, and is therefore more easily found and stalked. 

 It displays, however, the same fondness for precipitous ground, and frequently betakes itself 

 to deep ravines with nearly perpendicular sides, separated by knife-like ridges of crumbling 

 shale, where it is absolutely impossible to follow it. 



A well-known old Indian sportsman assured me that he had, on more- than one occasion, 

 seen these Markhoor feeding in trees many feet from the ground, and from what I know 

 of the habits of all the wild goats, I should have had no hesitation in believing the story 

 even on much less reliable authority. 



They are much less shy than the Markhoor of the Himalayas, and at Sheikh Budi'n 

 they wander all over the hill and are frequently seen from the roadside, and occasionally 

 from the windows of the houses. It is even said that, during the winter months, when the 

 station is deserted, they may be seen among the buildings 1 



