YAK. 



415 



in other species of this genus, several races or va- 

 rieties, differing as to size, Sec. as in common 

 cattle. Those which were examined by Pr. Pallas 

 were of the size of a small domestic cow ; but the 

 growth of these, as Mr. Pennant observes, might 

 have been checked by being brought very young 

 from their native country into Siberia. Marco 

 Polo says, that the wild kind which he saw in his 

 travels hito Tartary were nearly as large as ele- 

 phants, and though this may perhaps be an ex- 

 aggeration, yet the length of some of the tails 

 brought into Europe, and measuring six feet, 

 seem to prove that the size of the animals to which 

 they belonged must have been very great. 



In India no man of fashion ever goes out, or 

 sits in form at home, without two Chowrabadars^ 

 or brushers, attending him, each furnished with 

 one of these tails mounted on silver or ivory 

 handles, to brush away the flies. The Chinese 

 dye them of a beautiful red, and wear them as 

 tufts to their summer bonnets. 



Mr.. Pennant justly observes, that Milan is the 

 only ancient writer who takes notice of this sin- 

 gular species, and that amidst his immense far- 

 rago of fables, he gives a very good account of it, 

 under the name of " Poephagns, an Indian ani- 

 mal, larger than a horse, with a most thick tail, 

 and black, composed of hairs finer than the hu- 

 man, and highly valued by the Indian ladies for 

 ornamenting their heads: each hair, he says, 

 was two cubits long. It was the most fearful 



