32 
SECOND YABKAND 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. TJufortunately 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, hut is decidedly smaller. The tail 
is about § the length of the body and head, and throughout of the same colour as the 
hack, light brown, or, as Hodgson well expresses it, brunnescent fawn, but the lower parts 
are white, not yellow; and I can detect no canescent tinge on the chin and limbs. The 
upper lip is whitish, the whiskers dark brown (they may have been black originally), the 
soles of the feet covered with longish ban. 
Compared with a skin of M. temon from Sikkim, for which I am indebted to Mr. 
Mandelli, this specimen is much paler; and if it be adult, the difference in size alone 
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 M. 
temon, and the pale colour may be due to the drier climate. At the same time I am inclined 
to believe that a distinct species is indicated. 
22. Mustela erminea. 
Linn., Syst, Nat., i, p. 68. 
In the Indian Museum there is a specimen of the ermine brought by Dr. Henderson 
from the first Yarkand expedition. It is probably that which Dr. Henderson mentions his 
having shot near Dras, west of Ladak. 1 
23. Lutra, sp. 
In Dr. Stoliczka’s diary for the 28th—31st August, written at Leh, he mentions the 
occurrence of a small species of Lutra in the Indus, and states that he could not procure a 
specimen. 
A skin obtained by Captain Biddulph in Gilgit has since been presented by him to 
the Indian Museum. Unfortunately the skull is wanting, and the determination of species 
of otter from the skin alone is almost impossible. The skin, too, is that of a large, not of 
a small otter, and it is quite possible that a different species from that occurring near Gilgit 
may be found at Leh. No difference can be traced between the Gilgit skin and that of the 
common European otter, with which Mr. Blyth 2 identified a Himalayan form, referred at 
one time to L. monticola, Hodgson. 
1 Lahore to Yarkand, p. 42. 
t Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc., p. 7A 
