414 WILD ANIMALS. 



silver, and used as " chowries," (i.e, fans to keep away the flies.) 

 The state elephants of some native princes are trained to carry 

 ■with the trunk a gorgeously-mounted chowrie of this description, 

 and to keep it in incessant motion. In China the hairs of these 

 tails are dyed red and borne in the caps of certain dignitaries as the 

 insignias of rank, the distinctions being regulated by the number of 

 them that are worn ; they are also used as battle-standards by the 

 Mongols ; and the ingenious artisans of the Bast convert these 

 handsome tails into all manner of useful and ornamental articles. 



The yak exists in a wild as well as a domesticated state. In the 

 valuable "Notes on Eastern Thibet," communicated by Dr. A. 

 Campbell to The Phoenix^, in 1871, we learn that the wild yak of 

 Thibet is called a " dong." It is described as the fiercest of all 

 known ruminants. It will rarely allow a man to escape alive if 

 it can come up with him. It is generally hunted on horseback, 

 the great aim being to detach one from the herd. It affects open 

 grassy places, and goes in large herds. The following is the plan 

 adopted by hunters on foot for killing the " dong " : — 



" Its favourite pasturages are ascertained, and in the midst of 

 these the hunters throw up circular enclosures of stone a few 

 yards apart, the hunter taking up a position in one of them. 

 When a ' dong ' is within shot, the hunter having fired at him, 

 instantly quits his enclosure for another ; for as soon as the animal 

 hears the shot, whether he is hit or not, he, guided by the smoke 

 of the discharge, rushes furiously on the enclosure, and commences 

 knocking it to pieces. When the hunter gets another shot at 

 him he retires again from his shelter to a fresh enclosure, and so 

 on, till he has killed his beast. The ordinary size of the ' dong ' 

 is four times that of the domestic yak ; it is black all over, having 

 occasionally a white streak in the forehead. The horns of a full 

 grown bull are said to be three feet long, and the circumference 

 must be immense. The common mode of describing it is to throw 

 out the elbow, bring the fingers to the ribs and point to the circle 

 thus formed as the size of the base. It is used by the grandees 

 of Thibet at marriages and other feasts, when it is filled with 

 strong drink, and handed round to the company. Nothing more 

 ' The Phcenix, a monthly magazine for China, Japan, and Eastern Asia. 



