32 
SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
21. Mustela temon? 
Hodgson, J. A. S. B., 1857, xxvi, p. 207. 
There is in the Indian Museum a specimen of a Mustela , brought by Dr. Henderson 
from the first Yarkand expedition. It was obtained just north of the Sanju Pass in 
Yarkand (Lahore to Yarkand, p. 99), and appears to have been identified by somebody with 
M. temon, Hodgs., for it is labelled with that name. Unfortunately this skin has been mount' 
ed and exposed to the light, so that it is difficult to say how far time may have altered the 
original colour. There is no skull, and it is impossible to say if the specimen is adult. 
In general form this skin agrees with M. temon , but is decidedly smaller. The tail 
is about f the length of the body and head, and throughout of the same colour as the 
back, light brown, or, as Hodgson well expresses it, brunnescent fawn, but the lower part 5 
are white, not yellow; and I can detect no canescent tinge on the chin and limbs. T1 |C 
upper lip is whitish, the whiskers dark brown (they may have been black originally), th e 
soles of the feet covered with longish hair. 
Compared with a skin of M. temon from Sikkim, for which I am indebted to M 1 ’- 
Mandelli, this specimen is much paler ; and if it be adult, the difference in size alo» e 
would show it to be distinct. The tail also appears proportionally longer. It is, however 
by no means impossible that the Sanju skin may have belonged to a young specimen of 
temon, and the pale colour may be due to the drier climate. At the same time I am inclin’d 
to believe that a distinct species is indicated. 
22. Mustela ermine a. 
Linn., Syst. Nat., i, p. 68. 
In the Indian Museum there is a specimen of the ermine brought by Dr. Henderso n 
from the first Yarkand expedition. It is probably that which Dr. Henderson mentions hb 
having shot near Dras, west of Ladak. 1 
23. Ltjtra, sp. 
In Dr. Stoliczka’s diary for the 28th — 31st August, written at Leli, he mentions th e 
occurrence of a small species of Lutra in the Indus, and states that he could not procure 9 
specimen. 
A skin obtained by Captain Biddulph in Gilgit has since been presented by him 10 
the Indian Museum. Unfortunately the skull is wanting, and the determination of specie 
of otter from the skin alone is almost impossible. The skin, too, is that of a large, not 
a small otter, and it is quite possible that a different species from that occurring near 
may be found at Leh. No difference can be traced between the Gilgit skin and that of T ' )l 
common European otter, with which Mr. Blyth 3 identified a Himalayan form, referred 9 * 
one time to L. monticola, Hodgson. 
1 Lahore to Yarkand, p. 42. 
J Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc,, p. 73. 
