CHINA 
tibetanus, Mr R. Kingdon Ward has found traces of takin in the neighbour- 
hood of the Salween River. The natives call them Yienu and hunt them 
with crossbows and poisoned arrows. This variety has never been killed 
by a European, but it is probably closely allied to, if not identical with, 
B. tibetanus found in Western Szechuan and Eastern Tibet. 
Few animals of recent years have aroused so much interest as this 
strange, uncouth -looking creature. It even holds its own in this respect 
with the okapi. Marco Polo alludes to “beyamini,” “very wild and fierce 
animals,” but he probably meant yak (Bos grunniens). 
Pfcre David, through native hunters, secured the first specimens in 1869 
in Mupin. In 1893-4 M. Berezovski obtained takin from the natives on the 
Kansu -Szechuan border. These may possibly have been the Piekou variety, 
though I have no precise information on the subject. Two or three English 
sportsmen tried for the more southern form near Tachienlu without 
success until 1908. Mr C. H. Mears, I believe, claimed the honour of killing 
the first specimen. Mr Wilson in his recent book declares that his com- 
panion, Mr Walter R. Zappey, has the prior claim, having shot one on 
May 27 of this year, while Mr Mears’ cow did not succumb until the 
30th. In August, a few weeks later, Major M ’Neill killed several in the 
petty state of Yatung. Mr Wilson, I think rightly, makes no mention of 
other claims. A certain gentleman, who shall be nameless, declared that 
he had been the first white man to shoot these animals. Possibly he may be 
correct if his assertion is taken literally, as I heard stories of dead takin, 
brought in by native hunters and potted as they lay in the yard! Suppressio 
vert with a vengeance. The Shensi takin (B. bedfordi) t though skins were 
secured by the Duke of Bedford’s expedition through native hunters, 
was not killed by a European until 1910, when Dr J. A. G. Smith 
shot one. Mr Fenwick-Owen and myself hunted them successfully in 
August, 1911. 
Mr K. Horn has since killed them on the same ground as that on which 
we secured our specimens. 
At the date of writing these are the only specimens shot by foreigners. 
The Szechuan form is lighter in colour than the typical variety. It is 
yellow, thickly sprinkled with grey, particularly on the body and hind- 
quarters, with a blackish muzzle, ears and tail, a short, dark, spinal stripe 
and blackish or iron-grey legs. The Shensi takin (B. bedfordi ), the most 
specialized representative of the genus yet discovered, is golden yellow 
and, to quote Mr R. I. Pocock, “ the main character in which this Chinese 
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