Snake-Eater of the Afghans. 539 



" of the deer species, which he thinks is called Pauzen in Per- 

 sian." " It is remarkable," he says, " for the size of its 

 horns, and for the strong, but not disagreeable smell of its 

 body. The vulgar believe that it lives on snakes ; and a 

 hard green substance, about the size of a Windsor bean, is 

 found in some part of it, which is reckoned an infallible cure 

 for the bite of a serpent."* 



The term " Pauzen" is evidently the " Paseng" or " Pa- 

 san" of authors, and belongs, as we have shewn in the preced- 

 ing article, to the iEgagrus which Kampfer noticed under 

 the name of bezoar-bearing goats, f The Snake-eater of the 

 Afghans is the species under consideration, and is a true 

 goat, the strong odour above alluded to, being one of the 

 characters of the genus, and is retained by the skins and horns 

 for years after the animal is killed. 



The name of " Markhore," " or Snake-eater," is given to 

 the animal by the Afghans from an idea, that it has an 

 instinctive feeling which prompts it to seek for and devour 

 snakes. Hence it is believed also, that if a man be bitten by 

 a snake, the wound may speedily be healed, and the poison 

 neutralised by eating of the flesh of the Markhore. The 

 hunters also declare, that the fat of the stomach is so exces- 

 sively nutritious, that it enables them to pursue the chase 

 with greater vigour than any other food, and even after a 

 meal of it, to endure a fast of several days. 



The " bezoar" is said to be often found in the stomach 

 of this animal, and is thought to be efficacious in drawing 

 out the poison from a snake bite, and it is applied for this 

 purpose to the wounded part. 



No doubt the idea of its efficacy has arisen, not so much 

 from its being found to possess any actual virtue, as from its 

 occurring in the stomach of an animal supposed to be des- 

 tructive to the serpent tribe. 



* Account of the Kingdom of Cabul, vol. i. p. 1 88. 

 t Griffith's Cuvier, Mam. vol. iv, p. 303. 



