346 Rough Notes on the Zoology of Candahar. [No. 161. 



the only persons who could approach the brute with impunity. It 

 was chained like a dog. I believe it effected its escape during Dr. 

 Baddeley's return to Quetta on his way to Bombay. " Laggerbagher" 

 of India. 14 



No. 14. Herpestes griseus f — Is this our Indian friend ? It is 

 very common at Candahar, with precisely the habits of H. griseus. 

 The Afghans occasionally tame them, as do the natives of this coun- 

 try. It is called " Moosh-khoorma," by the Afghans. " Nyool" of 

 India. 15 



No. 15. Mustela [sarmatica, Pallas.] — This occurs plentifully at 

 Quetta and Candahar, where it burrows in the ground, and produces 

 three or four young at a birth. I had three pairs of these beautiful 

 little creatures living in the same box, and although occasionally 

 a little bickering occurred, yet on the whole they were amica- 

 ble enough. A few days before I left Candahar (February 1841), 

 I killed and stuffed one of these animals, and the following morning, 

 when a young friend of mine opened the cage for the purpose of tak- 

 ing out another, we discovered that the two remaining pairs had 

 waged war during the night with the odd one, whose mate we had 

 stuffed, and had killed and partly devoured it. This is a curious fact, 

 for the three pairs had lived together nearly from their birth, without 

 farther quarrelling than an occasional wrangle over their food ; yet 

 no sooner was one pair broken, than the others set upon and killed the 

 odd one. The Afghans call it " Gorkhus," or grave-digger, from an 

 idea that it frequents burial grounds for the purpose of feeding on 

 dead bodies. They even suppose that it lives entirely upon human 

 bodies, and that it digs down into the graves where it banquets in 

 undisturbed solitude. This notion, as may readily be supposed, is an 



i4. According to Vigne, this animal is very rare, if found at all, in Kashmir. 

 Very rarely, also, it occurs in the vicinity of Calcutta. — Cur. As. Soc. 



15. Mangusta pallipes, Blyth. This species is quite distinct from M. grisea of 

 India generally, (including Scindh,) having much shorter fur, and approaching nearly 

 to M. Edwardsii, v. auropunctata of Hodgson, if it be not a mere variety of the latter. 

 It is most probably, however, distinct, and may be known from M. Edwardsii by its 

 paler colour, its white throat, breast, and under-parts, which are but faintly tinged with 

 the hue of the upper parts, and also by the light colour of its feet. In form and dimen- 

 sions, it appears altogether to resemble M. Edwardsii,— Cur. As. Soc. 



