6 
climate, food, or other assistance nature may require; and the result 
of their attempts has been'a failure, and all their plans frustrated. 
The society in Paris now publish monthly reports, and offer 
premiums for the introduction of valuable animals. Among 
many, there is a premium of a medal of the value of .£80 for the 
introduction of the pure alpaca into Algeria, or the mountains of 
Europe; the flock to consist of three males and nine females at 
the least. 
A medal worth £40, for the complete domestication, application 
to agriculture, or employment in the towns, of the kiang, a 
valuable beast of burden, of great power and swiftness, which is 
a native of Thibet. 
I will make a few remarks upon this beautiful animal, of 
which a drawing is shown, as I had an opportunity of seeing 
one alive in the Zoological Gardens, in London, where it had 
been recently introduced by Major Hay. It was a fine female, 
and the only example of the animal in Europe. It is found in 
herds in the high plateau of Thibet, at an altitude at from 15,000 
feet to 16,600 above the level of the sea. It has been stated 
that it will not live under an elevation of 10,000 feet above the 
level of the sea; but as illustrating that which I before 
remarked respecting the necessity of acquiring a practical 
knowledge of the habits of animals, instead of listening to 
preconceived opinions, it was found that on descending into the 
low lands, the kiang was never a day sick, and on reaching the 
plains it became still more inclined to enjoy its freedom, and 
was obliged to have four men to hold and lead it, and even 
then, on several occasions, it got away, but was not very difficult 
to secure again. It was kept a month at Kurrachee, and was 
then embarked on board a ship, when a large quantity of hay, 
dried lucerne, and also grain, was laid in for its use; the latter 
was worm-eaten, and it was long before the animal could be 
induced to touch it. The passage was long, and the captain’s 
people having used the animal’s food to feed their own stock, 
the kiang was twice reduced to eat the straw with which the 
sailors’ beddings had been stuffed. This proves the hardiness 
of the animal. At first it refused to drink any tainted water; 
hut before reaching St. Helena, where fresh supplies were laid 
in, it would eat or drink almost anything. 
The French Society also offers a medal worth £40 for the 
domestication and multiplication of some large species of kan¬ 
garoo. The winner of the prize must possess at least six 
specimens, and must have bred two generations in domesticity. 
