32 



SECOND YA11KAND MISSION. 



21. MlJSTELA TEMON ? 

 Hodgson, J. A. S. B., 1857, xxvi, p. 207. 



There is in the Indian Museum a specimen of a Mustela, brought by Dr. Henderson 

 from the first Yarkand expedition. It was obtained just north of the Sanju Pass in 

 Yarkand (Lahore to Yarkand, p. 99), and appears to have been identified by somebody with 

 M. temon, Hodgs., for it is labelled with that name. Unfortunately this skin has been mount- 

 ed and exposed to the light, so that it is difficult to say how far time may have altered the 

 original colour. There is no skull, and it is impossible to say if the specimen is adult. 



In general form this skin agrees with M. temon, but is decidedly smaller. The tail 

 is about f the length of the body and head, and throughout of the same colour as the 

 back, light brown, or, as Hodgson well expresses it, brunnescent fawn, but the lower parts 

 are white, not yellow; and I can detect no canescent tinge on the chin and limbs. The 

 upper lip is whitish, the whiskers dark brown (they may have been black originally), the 

 soles of the feet covered with longish hair. 



Compared with a skin of 31. temon from Sikkini, for which I am indebted to Mr. 

 Mandelli, this specimen is much paler ; and if it be adult, the difference in size alone 

 would show it to be distinct. The tail also appears proportionally longer. It is, however, 

 by no means impossible that the Sanju skin may have belonged to a young specimen of 31. 

 temon, and the pale colour may be due to the drier climate. At the same time I am inclined 

 to believe that a distinct species is indicated. 



22. Mustela erminea, 



Linn., Syst. Nat., i, p. 68. 



In the Indian Museum there is a specimen of the ermine brought by Dr. Henderson 

 from the first Yarkand expedition. It is probably that which Dr. Henderson mentions his 

 having shot near Dras, west of Ladak. 1 



23. Lutra, sp. 



In Dr. Stoliczka's diary for the 28th — 31st August, written at Leh, he mentions the 

 occurrence of a small species of Lutra in the Indus, and states that he could not procure a 

 specimen. 



A skin obtained by Captain Biddulph in Gilgit has since been presented by him to 

 the Indian Museum. Unfortunately the skull is wanting, and the determination of species 

 of otter from the skin alone is almost impossible. The skin, too, is that of a large, not of 

 a small otter, and it is quite possible that a different species from that occurring near Gilgit 

 may be found at Leh. No difference can be traced between the Gilgit skin and that of the 

 common European otter, with which Mr. Blyth 2 identified a Himalayan form, referred at 

 one time to L. monticola, Hodgson. 



1 Lahore to Yarkand, p. 42. 



* Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc, p. 73. 



