THE NYL-GHAU. 
127 
white hairs extends along the middle line of the neck 
and part of the back. The head, legs, and under parts 
of the body are of a much deeper shade than the upper, 
the general tint being grayish black with a slight mix- 
ture of brown. On the forehead a few darker lines 
pass obliquely above and between the eyes. The muz- 
zle, lips, inside of the mouth, and tongue are dusky 
brown. Along the outer edges of the lips and on the 
fore part of the chin, the hairs are pure white ; two 
roundish spots of white also occur on either side of the 
face behind the angle of the mouth, and a third, less 
distinctly marked, above the inner angle of the eye. 
A narrow band of white passes along the centre of the 
throat, and terminates on the upper part of the neck 
in a broad patch. The legs are also most commonly 
marked by a transverse white band immediately above 
the hoofs in front, and by a second patch of the same 
opposite to the accessory hoofs on the inner side. 
Beneath the fore part of the neck is a tuft of long 
pendulous black hairs ; and those which terminate the 
tail are of the same colour. The under side of the 
latter, the long hairs by which it is fringed, and the 
adjacent parts, are nearly white. 
The female is much smaller than the male, and at 
the same time lighter and more slender in her propor- 
tions. She is entirely destitute of horns, has less hump 
on the shoulders, and her hind quarters are more nearly 
on a level with her fore. Her general colour, as also 
that of the young male, is a pale reddish brown, marked 
with precisely the same spots and patches of white as 
appear upon the full grown male. 
The Nyl-ghaus appear to be by no means generally 
spread over the peninsula of Hindoostan, but to be 
confined to its north-western provinces and the coun- 
tries situated between them and Persia. Bernier, who 
alone of all the older travellers mentions the animal by 
