92 
SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
S M 
pointed out that the most important characters in which the horns of the America^, 
differ from those of the animals found in Eastern Tibet, Kashmir, and Persia are the sm ^ 
ness of the former, their tendency to flattening or palmation in the crown, their grea 
division in the coronal region, and the marked backward curvature and want of conv^s^ 
in the upper portion of the beam. Now in all these characters the horns hrough^ ^ 
Turkestan appear to he intermediate between those of the other Asiatic stags and those ^ 
Wapiti. The horns of the Turkestan stag differ from those of the Wapiti in being less ^ 
more curved inwards towards the ends, and in having the brow and bez-antler much » • 
... i i j P.fhb' 
rianus or 
There can, I think, be very little doubt that Genus eustephcmns is the animal de 
by Severtzoff and Prejevalski as inhabiting the forests of the Thian-Shan and neigW 0 ^, 
ranges. It is a very large animal, as indeed is evident from the dimensions of tin 
adults being, according to Severtzoff, as much as 6 feet high at the shoulder. It is P r ° 
known as maral by the Arian tribes of Central Asia, the word being Persian for deer- j„ 
true C. maral, however, inhabiting the forests on the southern coasts of the Caspian 
the Caucasus, &c., is a much smaller animal with, as already noticed, differently shape* 
I have no definite information as to the history of the pair of horns described, ^ t0 
that Captain Trotter informs me they were purchased in Kashghar bazar, and wel ' ( '.* 0 t1i f ' r 
have been brought from the forests of the Thian-Shan mountains east of Kulja. 
and larger pair were also brought by the mission, but they were presented to Lord Nor ^ 
and sent by him to England, so I have had no opportunity of examining them- ^1 
informed, however, by Mr. Wood-Mason that they differed considerably from the pair eS 
by me, and that the terminal portion was greatly flattened. ^ 
Since this account of C. eitstephanus has been written, I have learned that thes e ^ 
from the Thian-Shan have been examined by Sir Y. Brooke and pronounced, if 1 1111 ' 
correctly, to belong to some species already described, probably C. canadensis. The 
however, have not reached me. 1 
58. Cervus sp. 
Genus maral, Prejevalski, Pet. Mitt. Erg. Hft., No. 53, p. 9. — Prom Kulja, &e., p. 166- 
No specimen of the large deer found in the woods and thickets of Eastern 
tAV 
dJJUUllllCJJ. U1 LUO JZLTg (3 UCCl IULL-LLU. 11± vv vn/uo cuu.il umvu.owa vra jjuuuv.*- fl ^ 
was, so far as I know, brought back by the Yarkand Mission. The animal is mention® ^ 
“ General description of Kashghar ” 2 near the commencement of the published 
thus, under the head of “ Animals.” 11,1 
“ The stag or bughu male, and maral female, haunts the forest borders along' the river courses 011 
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, iu _ ^ 
five of his visit to Maralbashi, 3 and is said to inhabit a belt of thick high grass on 1 6 
of rivers. ^ 
Almost all the information I have on this deer is derived from Mr. Shaw. All ' tl 1 ' 
have asked agree that it is a different animal from the great stag of the Thian-Sba 0 
9 x2, 
1 Just as the last proof was being passed, I received Sir V. Brooke’s paper, P. Z. S., 1878, p. 883, and P' 
considers the horns undistinguishable from some of C. canadensis. 
2 By Dr. Bellew. Report of a mission to Yarkand in 1873, p. 69. 
3 Report, p. 218. 
