CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



ALTHOUGH I had hoped to have been able to give a description from my own personal 

 experience, if not a portrait, of every ' Large Game ' animal that inhabits the extensive area to 

 which this book relates, I regret to say that there are still about half a dozen species which 

 I have never succeeded in shooting. They are as follows : — ■ 



The Ounce or Snow-Leopard — Felis Uncia. 



The Snow-Leopard is scattered all over the highest hills, but it is seldom that the 

 English sportsman has the luck to meet with one ; I have never had that good fortune 

 during all my wanderings. 



The Snow-Leopard is one of the most beautiful of the feline race ; it is about the size 

 of a medium-sized Panther, but the tail is far longer in proportion to the body, and it is 

 also much more bushy than that of the Panther. The fur is long and beautifully soft ; it 

 is of a light grey color, irregularly spotted with black. 



I once obtained a good skin from a villager in Balti'stan ; he had shot it during the 

 winter. 



The Clouded-Leopard — Felis Macrocelis. 



This very rare and handsome Leopard is said to be found throughout Sikkim, but 

 it cannot be at all plentiful even there, as I have tried in vain to procure a skin in Darjiling ; 

 and the only one that I have ever heard of being bagged, was killed by a Tea-planter 

 of my acquaintance in his garden, with a charge of shot ! 



The color of the skin is a greenish-brown with large irregular blotches of a much 

 darker hue. 



The Clouded Leopard is said to prefer the densest forests, but I know nothing of its 

 habits, never having met with one. 



The Striped Hyaena — Hycena Striata. 



The Hyaena is not uncommon in many parts of Northern India, but being almost 

 entirely nocturnal in his habits, he is not often seen, unless when beaten out of his retreat, 

 when nobler game is being sought for. 



The Hyaena is an ugly brute, having a large head, high withers, and drooping quarters. 

 His shambling gait does not add to his appearance, and he has an unenviable notoriety as a 

 robber and a coward. 



