1008 On the tame Sheep, fyc. of Tibet. [Oct. 



temperature, or both, of the sub-Himalayas south of the Cachar ; the 

 Cachar being the juxta-nivean region of these hills, where vegetation 

 and temperature are European and quasi Arctic. But the Hunia does 

 very well in the Cachar, and may with care be bred, or at least fattened, 

 in the central region at heights not under 7 to 8000 feet, where the 

 maximum temperature in the shade is about 70°. It is a hardy animal, 

 feeding freely and fattening kindly. Its mutton and its fleece are both 

 excellent in quality and very abundant in quantity, so that I should sup- 

 pose the animal well worthy of the attention of sheep-rearers in cold 

 climates. The wool is of the kind called long staple, and is valued by 

 the export at 8 pence per pound.* The Tibetans who dress entirely in 

 woollen, are clothed almost solely from the fleece of the Hunia, an ex- 

 cellent material but unskilfully wrought by them into cloth, blankets, 

 and felts, as well as knitted into long stocking boots. 



2. Ovis silingia. — The Siling sheep or Pelrik of eastern Tibet and 

 of Siling. Eastern Tibet is the Kham of the natives of that vast 

 plateau and is a part of it less elevated, less rugged and less cold than 

 the central, and yet more so than the western, portion. Towards Assam, 

 in the valley of the Sanpu, rice is grown in Kham or eastern Tibet, a 

 fact decisive of the high temperature of Kham, as compared with 

 Utsang and Nari, or central and western Tibet. Indeed the plateau of 

 Tibet descends rapidly all the way along the course of the Sanpu or 

 Brahmaputra from its source to its gorge or exit from the Himalaya. -j~ 

 But still Kham must be described as a country of very moderate heat 

 as well as of great dryness. North and east of Kham, on the verge of 

 China, and separated from the Chinese provinces of Sifan and Shensi by 

 the Peling mountains is Siling or Tangut, a colder and loftier region 

 like Nari, and comprising the upper course of the Hoangho, as Nari 

 that of the upper Bramhaputra. Siling is a country of great but vague 

 celebrity, the Singapur of the trade of high Asia, the cradle of the 

 Chinese and Mantchurian families of mankind, and possibly of the 



* See Journal of the Agricultural Society, Vol. V. Part IV. p. 205. I shall be happy 

 to facilitate the procuring- of the animal or its wool for an experimental Essay. 



t Tibet is the vale of the Indus and Sanpu, the watershed being- near the holy lakes, 

 where the elevation is nigh 15,000 feet. At. its gorge the Indus is not under 10,000. The 

 Sanpu towards its source in Nari is above 15,000 : towards its vent in Kham under 7000 : 

 in its mid-course throug-h Utsang, a mean nearer (he latter. 



