284 Notice of the Mammals of Thibet. [No. 124. 



33. Genus Ovis, tame. Vast flocks of the graceful and valuable 

 Hoonia are reared all over Tibet, for food, clothing and carriage, and 

 exclusively almost of any other breed. They flourish also in the Kachar 

 of Nepal, though not south of it, and even in the Kachar their wool 

 degenerates. To procure the Hoonia from north-eastern Tibet, ought 

 to be an object of zealous endeavour on the part of the Agricultural 

 Society, which should likewise obtain the Kachar breed of the same ani- 

 mal, the former for export to Europe, (for it would not live in India,) 

 the latter for attempts at crossing with the common long-tailed breed of 

 Gangetic India. The Goats and Sheep of the Hemachal and Tibet have 

 the finest fleeces in the world : the Goats and Sheep of the plains of 

 India, almost the worst.* Should the rulers of the latter region not essay 

 to make their apathetic subjects profit by the circumstance ? 



CERVIDiE. 



Genus Cervus. 



34. Sub-genus Pseudo Cervus, C. Wallichii. This species is alleged 

 to tenant the plains of Tibet in hilly and woody situations, as well as the 

 Tibetan slopes from the spine of the Hemachal. But I have no further 



tail of the Zoological Society's specimen had been lost, but on minute examination I 

 arrived at the conclusion, that the whole skin of this part was present, though longitu- 

 dinally divided, and what confirmed me in this belief was, the circumstance of the pale 

 space that should be covered by the tail being exactly of corresponding dimensions 

 to the size of what I judge to be the whole of this appendage; of course, I allude 

 to the appearance as if etoliated, which contrasts in this respect with the colour of 

 the surrounding parts. 



Of the veritable Nahoor, I have seen some considerable number of horns, (there 

 are four frontlets of males in the Asiatic Society's Museum,) but never any that I 

 could mistake for those of the Burrhel. — Comparative figures of them are given, along 

 with those of other species described by me, in the Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History, for September, 1841 ; where, however, the names are unfortunately transpos- 

 ed, the appellation Nahoor being affixed to the Burrhel, and vice versa. 



"With respect to O. Ammonoides, Hodgson, should it really prove different from O. 

 Amnion, it will be remembered that I had dedicated this animal to Mr. Hodgson him- 

 self, terming it Hodysonii, some time before the publication of the name Ammonoides ; 

 so, likewise, Capt. Hutton's designation Cycloceros, applied to the wild Sheep of the 

 Hindu Koosh ranges, and which, by the way, is equally applicable to the Corsican O. 

 Musimon, must yield to my prior name of Vignei. 



Mr. Hodgson, in his trans-nivean researches, should strive to procure some infor- 

 mation respecting my superlatively magnificent Ovis Polii, to which even the 

 "monster Ammon" yields precedence for grandeur, as it assuredly does for elegance and 

 beauty. The only locality at present known for this fine species is the Steppes of 

 Pamir.— E. B. 



* The Agricultural Society or any other body may command my willing services 

 in aid of any exertions to improve the fleeces of our Indian or English Sheep. 





