1859.] On the different Animals Jenoivn as loild Asses. 2)30 



colouring, and this merely a difference of shades of hue and the 

 relative extension of thera ! # 



As regards the geographical distribution of the Kyang or Djigge- 

 tai, it does not appear that aught has been added to our knowledge 

 since the time of Pallas ; and the same may be remarked of the 

 distribution of the Ghor-khur or Koidan, excepting that the proper 

 habitat of the hemippus has to be subtracted from that of the 

 Koulan, and the supposed migratory habits of the latter are not 

 confirmed by subsequent observation. In the depth of a Khiva 

 winter, this animal was observed in numerous herds near the west- 

 ern extremity of Lake Aral by Major James Abbott, who remarks 

 that he " ascended some high land covered with snow. Wind 

 scarcely endurable. We every day see herds of wild Asses, and 

 flocks of the Saiga Antelope. I counted 800 wild Asses in a single 

 herd."f According to Lieut. Irwin, it is " common in Persia, the 

 western parts of Khorassan, and the plains of Turkistau, from 

 which he extends north into the Russian dominions and the centre 

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

 use." J Southward, they are still numerous in the parched and 

 rugged deserts of Beluehistau, which however are scarcely hotter 

 than the country about the Aral in summer : there are many of 

 them in the JPdt or desert between Asni and the hills, west of the 

 Indus, above Mithur-kote. " In this desert," remarks a recent 

 writer, " they are to be found wandering pretty well throughout 

 the year; but in the early summer, when the grass and the water 

 in the pools have dried up from the hot winds (which are here ter- 

 rific), the greater number, if not all, of the Ghor-Jchurs migrate 

 to the hills for grass and water. Some are probably to be found in 



* Vide a subsequent notice of the Ghor-khur, p. 240, where individuals are no- 

 ticed of a very dark colour ! But the Dshiyyetai, as described by Pallas and 

 Pennant, does not quite satisfactorily agree in colouring with the Tibetan Kyang ! 

 " Le poil est d'un jaune rembruni, assez clair. Le nez et l'interieur des membres 

 sont d'un jaune roux." (Pallas, Voyage.) Pennant also, translating from the Ger- 

 man, writes — " The colour of the upper-parts of the body a light yellowish. grey, 

 growing paler towards the sides. Buttocks white, as are the inside of the limbs 

 and belly." This colouring really applies better to the Ghor-khur. 



f ' Narrative of a Journey from Herat to Khiva,' &c. I, 23. 



% J. A. S. VIII, 1008. 



