Snake-Eater of the Afghans. 541 



Society on the 28th July, mention is made of the Jhara 

 of Mr. Hodgson, which is said to be " mostly known as 

 the Jehr, Jhaar, or Jhar to the westward of Nepaul, a 

 name applied by Mr. Hodgson to a very different animal, 

 which is usually called Surow, or Surrow" There is evi- 

 dently a confusing of two different animals here, namely the 

 Jehr which is a Goat, and the Jhar which is an Antelape. 

 The Jehr of the mountains westward of Nepal, Mr. Blyth 

 should have recognised as the Jharal or Capra Jharal vel 

 Quadrimammis of Nepaul ; and the Jhaar or Jhar of Ne- 

 paul as the Antelope Jhar of Mr. Hodgson, known at Mus- 

 sooree as the " Surrow," and at Simla as the " Eymoo." 



Mention is likewise made of the " Markbur of Cabul," an 

 animal which Mr. Blyth considers, as " a feral common goat," 

 founding his opinion upon the spirature of the horns, which 

 in all the domestic races, as in the Markbur, has an inward 

 tendency, at least at the tips ; while ec neither the Capra 

 JEgagrus, nor any of the numerous distinct species of wild 

 Capra known to Mr. Blyth, exhibit this spirature in the 

 least degree.* 



The " Markbur" here spoken of, is doubtless the ce Mark- 

 hore, or Snake-eater" of the Afghans, which I am now inform- 

 ed occurs abundantly in the mountains of Cashmir. 



I cannot however agree with Mr. Blyth in considering 

 the animal as " a feral common goat," especially upon such 

 negative evidence as is afforded by the inward spiral twist 

 of the horns, since it is said u to be alike in no two speci- 

 mens" and therefore evidently cannot be depended upon 

 as a character. Moreover, although the horns of the Capra 

 /Egagrus are not spirally turned, yet I possess three out of 

 five specimens, whose tips are decidedly and strongly turn- 

 ed inwards, a character which is moreover constant in 

 the Capra Jharal of Nepaul, and in the Capra Jemlahica 

 likewise. 



* Magazine of Natural History, No. 42, p. 165. 



