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But by far the most complete account of the Chiru yet published is that 
given by General Kinloch in his excellent volume on the ‘ Large Game of 
Tibet and Northern India,’ from the second edition of which, published in 
1885, we venture to extract the following particulars :— 
“ So far as we know, Thibetan Antelopes are never found near the habitations of man, 
but frequent the plains and elevated valleys far above the limits of cultivation, where 
few human beings, save occasional wanderiug shepherds, ever disturb them. The most 
accessible country to sportsmen where the Thibetan Antelope is to be found is Chung 
Chenmo, a desolate valley to the north of the Pangong lakes. In this valley, and in 
those of the streams which flow down to it from the spurs of the K 4r4 Koram mountains, 
Antelope are usually plentiful; and they are also to be met with all over the lofty 
plateau which has to be crossed on the road to Yarkand. A few have been shot in the 
neighbourhood of the Mansarovara lake near the north-western frontier of Nepal, but 
there are great difficulties in the way of getting there, the Thibetans jealously excluding 
all foreigners. 
“The Thibetan Antelope is considerably larger than the Indian Antelope, and somewhat 
more heavily made; its remarkable thick coat of closely set brittle hairs also tending to 
increase its apparent bulk. The color is a light fawn, varying in shade on different 
parts of the body, and tending almost to white in old buck. The legs are dark-colored, 
and the faces of very old males are nearly black, The muzzle is very curious ; instead 
of being fine and compressed, as is the case with most deer and antelope, it is considerably 
enlarged and puffy-looking ; so much so, that properly stuffed heads are generally 
supposed by persons unacquainted with the animal to be failures of the taxidermist. 
“The horns are, perhaps, the most graceful of those of any antelope: set close 
together at the base, they diverge in an easy curve for about two-thirds of their length, 
and then converging more abruptly, approach each other, in some specimens, within 
three or four inches at the tips. Out of twenty-five that I have shot I have never seen 
a pair above twenty-four and a half inches, but considerably longer specimens are to be 
obtained, and I have recently heard of a pair twenty-eight and a half inches. The horns 
are jet-black, of very fine grain, with a small central core, and being deeply notched on 
their anterior surface, they form perfect knife-handles and sword-hilts. When seen in 
profile, the forward inclination of the horns has a curious effect, the two appearing like 
a single horn; which has given rise to the belief that the Thibetan Antelope is the 
Tchirou or Unicorn Antelope mentioned by the Abbé Huc. 
“ Although living in such remote and sequestered regions, the Thibetan Antelope is 
wary in its habits. In the mornings and evenings it frequents the grassy margins of 
glacial streams, which frequently flow between steep banks gradually scarped out 
by the floods of centuries and now remote from the ordinary water’s edge. The 
ravines have, for the most part, been cut through gently sloping valleys; and on 
ascending their steep sides, slightly undulating plains will be found to stretch away, 
until they merge in the easy slopes of the rounded hills which bound the valley. To 
these plains the Antelope betake themselves during the day, and there they excavate 
VOL. III. H 
