1008 Lieut. Irwin s Memoir of Afghanistan. [Dec. 



mentioning for peltry, and thither are carried from independent Toor- 

 kistan, skins of the common brown fox, the black fox, the sable, the 

 ermine, the beaver, and some other fur bearing animals. These are 

 partly known in Khoorasan and Persia, but (except the brown fox) are 

 not found in Cabul or Afghanistan in general. From Toorkistan are 

 also carried the furs of young lambs, the best of which reach the court 

 of Pekin. The lamb must be killed when a few days old. 



150. The Mahomedans reckon the bear impure and forbidden, but 

 find several uses for his skin. He frequents the vallies of cold hills, 

 and especially if they possess a stream. In Kushmeer there seems to 

 be two species, the yellow and black. He is scarcely found among the 

 detached hills of Khoorasan. The hog prefers the plains, especially if 

 shrubby. The Hindoos sometimes eat his flesh in secret. The Kafeir's 

 alone eat bears. In Toorkistan young horses are fed up to be 

 slaughtered, and the onager, where found, is eaten. The rude tribes 

 eat flesh in general in a half boiled state, and sometimes raw. The ass 

 and mule are no where eaten. 



151. Among quadrupeds, the chief game are the various species of 

 wild goat, antelope, and deer genuses, which pass into one another in 

 such a manner that there is great difficulty in identifying the species 

 from description. The goats inhabit the mountains, the antelopes and 

 deer prefer the plains. Khootun is famous for its musk deer, which are 

 known to be found in some parts of Tibet and on the Pamer. An 

 inferior kind of musk is brought from upper Swad, or perhaps the 

 country beyond it to the north. With respect to what the natives call 

 wild sheep, they cannot be of the same species as any of the domes- 

 ticated kinds, but are probably what zoologists call ovis amnion. 



152. There is no reason to believe the existence of wild horses in 

 any of these countries. The animal which the Persians call goorkhur 

 is, I presume, the onager, or wild ass of naturalists. This animal is of 

 incomparable swiftness but may be killed by art. He is common in 

 Persia, the western part of Khoorasan, and the plains of Toorkistan, 

 from which he extends north into the Russian dominions and the centre 

 of Asia. A few are kept by the Ymaks more for curiosity than use. 

 Before proceeding to quadrupeds strictly domestic, we may mention 

 the bos grunniens, or ox of Tibet, which is found in a wild state on 

 the Pamer and the upper parts of Budukhshan, and has also been 

 domesticated by the Kirghizes, who frequent the Pamer. They keep 

 a few of the common kind, but many more of this species. 



