SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 



OF 



THE SECOND YARKAND MISSION 



MAMMALIA. 



By W. T. BLANFORD. 



THE following notes upon the specimens of mammalia collected by the late Dr. Stoliczka 

 when accompanying the mission sent by the Government of India in 1873-74 to Kash- 

 ghar 1 must be considered as only a contribution to the zoology of the countries traversed . 

 Some additions have been made from the collections obtained by Dr. Henderson, who accom- 

 panied a former mission to Yarkand, and by Dr. J. Scully, who visited Eastern Turkestan as 

 Medical Officer with Mr. B. B. Shaw, the Political Agent, despatched by the Government of 

 India in 1874-75 to visit the Amir of Kashghar. It is, however, impossible to give anything 

 like a complete list of the mammalia inhabiting Eastern Turkestan, the Pamir, and Wakhan. 

 Even of Ladak, which is easy of access, and yearly traversed by English sportsmen and 

 travellers, although the larger animals are known, much additional information will probably 

 be necessary before we obtain a complete acquaintance with the smaller forms. The 

 fact that, amongst the mammals collected in Ladak by Dr. Stoliczka, four (a shrew, a vole, 

 a mouse, and a Lagomys) were previously unknown, and two others incorrectly identified, 

 renders it probable that several more remain to be determined. The works of previous tra- 

 vellers give but imperfect information on the zoology of Ladak ; and Dr. Stoliczka, in former 

 years, proposed to write a general work on the animals and plants of Western Tibet, an inten- 

 tion which unfortunately he did not live to carry out. The present writer lies under the 

 disadvantage of being unacquainted with the country ; and it is almost impossible to do 

 justice to the important questions of distribution and range without having visited the region 

 inhabited by the fauna described. 



1 The practice of using the name of ' Yarkand,' which really applies only to a city, for the whole of Eastern Turkestan, although 

 quite erroneous, has become too common amongst English writers, and in official reports, to be easily superseded. An attempt 

 has been made to substitute the term ' Kashgharia,' but it has not been successful. The proper name of the region comprising the 

 cities of Kashghar, Yarkand, Khoten, Aksu, &c, is Eastern Turkestan ; and as the country has now once more fallen into the hands of 

 the Chinese, the old term ' Chinese Turkestan ' is again applicable. It is to be regretted that the name ' Yarkand Mission' tends to 

 support a geographical error. The spelling of ' Kashghar' is doubtful ; it is sometimes spelt ' Kashkar ' or 'Kashqar.' 



