246 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



together with a thick undergrowth of juniper bushes. The 

 less abrupt slopes and hollows at lower altitudes were clothed 

 with a dense tangle of shrubs and trees, conspicuous amongst 

 which were the copper birch, willows, rose bushes, and many 

 others; whilst the gullies supported ledges of turf and clumps 

 of bamboo wherever they could find foothold. Everything 

 above seven thousand feet was now, in January, under snow 

 which, on the summit, was quite a foot deep, and two or three 

 times that depth in the drifts. Consequently progress up the 

 steep- slopes, especially where the snow had been stamped 

 hard by wood-cutters and hunters, was extremely slow, 

 though coming down was distinctly rapid, and often ended 

 in one's being rolled in the snow. The gullies too, where the 

 crevices between the slippery blocksof stone had beencovered 

 with a thin coating of snow were treacherous. Nevertheless 

 in the intervals between the snowstorms, the weather was 

 magnificent, and though the wind blowing up the gullies of 

 Tai-pei, particularly at night, was one of those trials of 

 endurance one does not want to experience twice in a life- 

 time if one can help it, yet big-game hunting over these 

 rugged peaks was interesting enough. However, I should 

 recommend the autumn for a similar trip to other aspirants, 

 as it is necessary to camp out in a cave during such a hunting 

 trip, on account of the extent of territory to be covered. 



Perhaps one of the rarest animals which lurked amongst 

 these rock strewn forests and precipices — for they usually go 

 about alone or in pairs, was a kind of antelope, which however, 

 except for its longer tail, is more like a goat in appearance 

 and proportions. This is the goral (genus Ceiiias), a 

 ruminant ranging from the outer spurs of the Himalayas to 

 eastern Tibet, northern China(r(tT the Sin-ling), and thence 

 to Amurland; but not very abundant anywhere except perhaps 

 in the Pamirs. There are several species, the Chinese one 

 being chiefly distinguished by its longer tail. It is a small 

 animal, not much bigger than the musk-deer — say, twenty-eight 

 to thirty inches high at the shoulder, of a general dark grey 

 or brown hue above, with a darker stripe down the nape of 

 the neck and along the middle of the back. There is no beard 

 and the horns are short and simple, more like those of a 

 chamois than of a goat, except that the tip is not curved back: 

 they are not above six inches long, and are concentrically 

 ribbed. The gorals, in fact, to some extent connect the goats 

 with the antelopes. We saw one of these animals amongst the 

 trees, perhaps a thousand yards distant, but as we were near 

 the summit of one spur and he was almost at the foot of the 

 next, separated by a chasm several hundred feet deep, there 

 was little chance of getting him, or even of getting a shot at 

 him. The native hunters, however, spent some days in pursuit 



