342 Rough Notes on the Zoology of Candahar. QNo. 161. 



I doubt it, as I never saw a skin nor any spoils of the animal, nor 

 could I find any one who had seen it. 3 



No. 4. Felts leopardus. This animal is common in the mountain- 

 ous parts of Afghanistan, and is destructive to flocks and cattle ; it 

 seldom attacks man, though the Afghans have a great dread of it. 

 The skins are prized as saddle-cloths, and are thrown over the saddle, 

 with the tail fastened behind to that of the horse. 4 



No. 5. Felis chaus, (vel erythrotis, Hodgson). This is not an un- 

 common species on the hills of Quettah and other parts of the country. 



N. B. — " Seeah Gosh" is the name of a Lynx in Persia, t. e. " Black 

 Ears." 5 



No. 6. Felis ? A spotted skin of a small Lynx, the only one 



I saw : it was brought in its present state from the Huzarrah hills. 6 



No. 7- Felis catus. The domestic Cat of the Afghans is very similar 

 to that of the hill people in the Himalayan districts, running into all 

 sorts of varieties as to colour, as they do with us, although the most 

 general is a dark grey with black spots and stripes. 7 



No. 8. Cam's . The domestic Dogs of the Afghans vary ac- 

 cording to the climate. In the hilly tracts they are large and fierce ; 



3. Elphinstone remarks, that the only part of Afghanistan where he had heard of the 

 existence of Lions, was in the hilly country about Cabool, and there they are small 

 and weak as compared with the African Lion. " 1 even doubt," he adds, " whether 

 they are Lions." The Lion is well known to occur, however, both in Persia and in 

 Western India ; and, according to Lieut. Irwin, some are found as far as Tashkund, 

 in a northerly direction and an easterly. J. A. S. viii, 1007. — Cur. As. Soc. 



4. A Candahar specimen forwarded by Captain Hutton is of moderate dimensions, with 

 rather long fur, very pale in colour, and the spots a good deal ringed, including those 

 along the back line. — Cur. As. Soc. 



5. This is the Felis caracal, Schreber, of which the Society has lately received a 

 specimen, killed at Jeypoor, from Captain Boys. It extends sparingly over the Upper 

 Provinces, but appears not to occur in the peninsula of India : westward it inha- 

 bits Syria, and the whole of Africa from Barbary to the Cape of Good Hope. 

 F. chaus is common throughout India, from the Himalaya southward; and extends 

 even to Arracan.— Cur. As. Soc. 



6. This seems to me to be the British Wild Cat ( Felis sylvestris, Aldrovand, com- 

 monly referred, but very doubtfully, to F. catus, Lin. ; the former not occurring in 

 Scandinavia). Its tail, however, would appear to taper, so far as can be judged from 

 the open skin ; whereas the tail of the British Wild Cat does not taper. Judging from 

 memory, of the figure published by Mons. F. Cuvier, I much suspect it to be his F. 

 torquata : but the colour and markings are quite those of F. sylvestris. — Cur. As. Soc. 



7. The domestic Cats of India are smaller than those of Europe, and are very com- 

 monly of a grey colour without markings, except on the limbs, and some more or less 

 confluent black dorsal lines ; the feet and tail being also black, to a greater or less extent. 

 This is a style of colouring never seen in those of Europe (of unmixed breed) ; and the 



