92 



SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



pointed out that the most important characters in which the horns of the American stag 

 differ from those of the animals found in Eastern Tibet, Kashmir, and Persia are the smooth- 

 ness of the former, their tendency to flattening or palmation in the crown, their greater sub- 

 division in the coronal region, and the marked backward curvature and want of convergence 

 in the upper portion of the beam. Now in all these characters the horns brought from 

 Turkestan appear to be intermediate between those of the other Asiatic stags and those of the 

 Wapiti. The horns of the Turkestan stag differ from those of the Wapiti in being less smooth, 

 more curved inwards towards the ends, and in having the brow and bez-antler much nearer 

 together, but they are much nearer to the Wapiti horns than they are to those of C. cashmi- 

 rianus or C. affinis. 



There can, I think, be very little doubt that Cervus eustephcmus is the animal described 

 by Severtzoff and Prejevalski as inhabiting the forests of the Thian-Shan and neighbouring 

 ranges. It is a very large animal, as indeed is evident from the dimensions of the horns, 

 adults being, according to Severtzoff, as much as 6 feet high at the shoulder. It is probably 

 known as maral by the Arian tribes of Central Asia, the word being Persian for deer. The 

 true C. maral, however, inhabiting the forests on the southern coasts of the Caspian and in 

 the Caucasus, &c, is a much smaller animal with, as already noticed, differently shaped horns. 



I have no definite information as to the history of the pair of horns described, except 

 that Captain Trotter informs me they were purchased in Kashghar bazar, and were said to 

 have been brought from the forests of the Thian-Shan mountains east of Kulja. Another 

 and larger pair were also brought by the mission, but they were presented to Lord Northbrook 

 and sent by him to England, so I have had no opportunity of examining them. I am 

 informed, however, by Mr. Wood-Mason that they differed considerably from the pair examined 

 by me, and that the terminal portion was greatly flattened. 



Since this account of C. eustepharms has been written, I have learned that these horns 

 from the Thian-Shan have been examined by Sir V. Brooke and pronounced, if I understand 

 correctly, to belong to some species already described, probably C. canadensis. The details, 

 however, have not reached me. 1 



58. Cervus sp. 



Cervus maral, Prejevalski, Pet. Mitt. Erg. Hft., No. 53, p. 9.— From Kulja, &c v p. 166. 



No specimen of the large deer found in the woods and thickets of Eastern Turkestan 

 was, so far as I know, brought back by the Yarkand Mission. The animal is mentioned in the 

 " General description of Kashghar " 2 near the commencement of the published " Report," 

 thus, under the head of " Animals." 



ff Tbe stag or lugJiu male, and maral female, haunts the forest borders along the river courses on the mid 

 plain, and is hunted for its antlers, which are an article of commerce with China." 



The same animal is mentioned, and by the same names, by Captain Biddulph, in the narra- 

 tive of his visit to Maralbashi, 3 and is said to inhabit a belt of thick high grass on the banks 

 of rivers. 



Almost all the information I have on this deer is derived from Mr. Shaw. All whom I 

 have asked agree that it is a different animal from the great stag of the Thian-Shan. Mr. 



i Just as the last proof was being passed, I received Sir V. Brooke's paper, P. Z. S., 1878, p. 883, and find, p. 912, that he 

 considers the horns undistinguishable from some of C. canadensis. 



- By Dr. Bellew. Report of a mission to Y4rkand in 1873, p. 69. 

 3 Eeport, p. 218. 



