THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 31 



object, they seem anxious to find out all about it ; and often, 

 when stalking, one is annoyed by a brute who snorts, cocks his 

 ears, and then trots up to have a look at one. Any of his 

 friends who may be near at once follow his example, more 

 distant ones are attracted, and in a few minutes a herd of 

 fifty or sixty may be galloping in circles, efEectually alarming 

 all the game in the country. 



"They will also sometimes spoil sport by actually chasing and 

 driving away other game from their pastures. I witnessed a 

 case of this in the Indus valley in 1866, when some goa which 

 I was stalking were hunted right away by some kyang. A 

 friend of mine had his stalk at some antelope spoiled in a 

 similar manner. 



" In places where they have not been disturbed, kyang will 

 ■frequently gaze at the sportsman within fifty yards without 

 betraying any fear, but merely curiosity. On the more fre- 

 quented routes which are annually traversed by tourists the 

 kyang are much more shy, and seem to know the range of a 

 rifle well. Of course, there is no sport in shooting such an 

 animal; but the skin of one is occasionally useful to mend 

 one's shoes with, and in some parts, as Ladak, the Tartars eat 

 the flesh with avidity. I have tried it, and found it tough and 

 coarse." 



Colonel Kinloch adds that he saw it stated some 

 years ago that a cross had been obtained between the 

 kiang and the ass at the Jardin des Plantes, and that he 

 should imagine that the cross between the kiang and the 

 horse would be a most valuable animal^ possessing all the 

 good qualities of the ordinary mule, with greater size and 

 strength, and better shape. I may state that in the 

 opinion of experienced mule breeders, the points of the 

 kiang are not such as would render its hybrid offspring as 

 valuable as the ordinary mule. 



I am not aware that the Tartars have ever utilised the 

 kiang as a domesticated animal, and for any detailed 



