Snake-Eater of the Afghans. 535 



the following article, and to which from the enormous 

 horns with which nature has adorned its head, I have as- 

 signed the name of " Capra Megaceros" 



Marlchore" or the " Snake-Eater" of the Afghans.- 

 Wild Goat of Afghanistan." 



tt 



XfJLi.lt ft#tlS# Isy 



(I 



" Capra Megaceros," Hutton. Plate xx. 



(Quere. — " The Martichore, or Man Destroyer," as mentioned by Cuvier from the 



Persian Mythology.*) 



The " Markhore" is an inhabitant of the same hills of the 

 foregoing species, but its range appears to be somewhat 

 more limited. Numbers are said to be found in the Sooli- 

 maun ranges, and away to the northward of Cabool, but of 

 its occurrence in Persia I could gain no tidings. 



Of a female which lived in my possession at Candahar, the 

 following are the measurements : — 



Length of the face from the muzzle to the anterior base 

 of the horns, 8J inches. From the base of the horns to the 

 insertion of the tail, two feet eleven inches ; tail eight inches, 

 making the total length from the muzzle to the end of the 

 tail, four feet three and a quarter inches. Space between the 

 anterior base of the horns, one and a half inch. Length 

 of the horns eight and a quarter inches. Length of the ear 

 six inches, and from the base of the horn to the articula- 

 tion of the under-jaw, six inches. Height from the centre 

 of the shoulders or withers, to the ground, two feet 

 five and three quarter inches. Iris golden or reddish 

 yellow. 



The colour of this animal was of an uniform yellowish 

 brown, the lower part of the leg from the knee, and hough, 



* Jameson's Cuvier's Theory of the Earth, p. 70. 



