and the black sometimes with a white nape, or the hairs of the nape
may be white at the base only." Lieut. Bevan described one ('P. Z.
S.' 1866) shot on the Zwagaben mountain, near Moulmein, as being of
a mingled black and ferruginous colour.
NO. 453. NEMORHOEDUS EDWARDSII.
_The Thibetan Capricorn_.
HABITAT.--Thibet.
DESCRIPTION.--This differs from the Indian _N. bubalina_ by the
uniform blackish brown of the upper parts tending to ferruginous on
the thighs, and the red colour in place of the grey on the lower parts
of the legs.
It was discovered by the Abbe David, who named it after the well-known
Professor A. Milne-Edwards.
NO. 454. NEMORHOEDUS GORAL.
_The Small Himalayan Capricorn_ (_Jerdon's No. 231_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Goral_, Pahari; _Pijur_, Kashmiri (_Jerdon_);
_Rein_ or _Rom_, Kashmiri (_Kinloch_); _Sah_ or _Sarr_, in the Sutlej
valley; _Suh-ging_, Lepcha; _Ra-giyu_, Bhotia.
HABITAT.--The whole range of the Himalayas from Bhotan to Kashmir.
[Illustration: _Nemorhoedus goral_.]
DESCRIPTION.--Dull brownish-grey above, with a dark mesial line,
paler below; a large white spot under the throat; chest and front
of fore-legs dark brown; female paler. The general appearance is that
of a high, or arched-backed goat. The females and young are lighter
coloured; the horns spring from the crest of the frontals and incline
backward, and are slightly curved and very sharp pointed, ringed at
the base, and smooth for the apical half or third; some have more
rings than others. Jerdon says from twenty to twenty-five rings, but
a specimen from Bhutan, which I have before me as I write (a female,
I think) has but ten annuli, or little more than one-third ringed.
The following description is from Kinloch's 'Large Game of
Thibet':--
"Gooral are not gregarious, like the true goats, all of which
frequently assemble in large flocks, but are usually scattered about
the hills, three or four being occasionally found close together,
but more commonly they feed alone or in pairs. They are to be found
in all sorts of ground, from bare crags to thick undulating forests,
but their favourite resorts are steep rocky hills, thinly sprinkled
with forest, especially where it consists of the Kolin pine. In
bright weather they conceal themselves in shady places during the
day-time, and only come out to feed on the open slopes in the morning
and evening; but when the weather is cloudy they sometimes feed
nearly all day.
"From living so near human habitations, and constantly seeing
shepherds and wood-cutters, gooral are not alarmed by seeing men at
a distance, and where the ground is much broken they are not difficult
to stalk. Where they are at all plentiful they afford very good sport,
and their pursuit is a capital school for the young sportsman.
Gooral-shooting is in fact like miniature ibex-shooting. The ground
they inhabit is frequently difficult walking; the animals are quite
sufficiently wary to test the generalship of the stalker; and as they
do not present a very large mark, good shooting is required.
"The best way to hunt them is (having discovered a good hill) to be
on the ground by daylight and work along the face of the hill, keeping
as high up as possible. Every slope should be carefully examined,
and on reaching the edge of each ravine it should be thoroughly
reconnoitred. Being good climbers, the gooral may be found in all
sorts of places--on narrow ledges, on the face of steep precipices,
on gentle slopes of young grass, and among scattered bushes or forest
trees. As little noise as possible should be made; talking should
never be allowed, for nothing frightens game so much. Frequently
after firing a shot or two on a hill-side, other animals may be found
quietly feeding a little further on, whereas if there has been any
shouting or talking the beasts will have been driven away. Shooting
over a hill does not appear to have the effect of frightening gooral
away; when disturbed they seldom go far, and may be found again on
their old ground in the course of a day or two. On detecting the
presence of danger, the gooral generally stands still, and utters
several sharp hisses before moving away."
SIZE.--Height, 28 to 30 inches; length, about 4 feet; horns, from
6 to 9 inches.
* * * * *
I must here include one of the most curious animals in India, a
creature resembling at first sight the African gnu. About a couple
of years ago, a friend of mine, who hails from the "land o' cakes,"
called to ask me about a strange animal he had noticed in the Museum.
"They call it a 'takin,'" said he; "and if I did not think they were
above jokes in such a dry-bone establishment, I should say in the
language of my native country, that it is a 'tak' in,' for it does
not look natural at all." I turned up Hodgson's account of the
creature for him, to prove that it was not a hoax. It was first brought
to notice by the above naturalist about thirty years ago, and he gave
it the name _Budorcas_, from the two Greek words signifying ox and
gazelle.
His account of it appears in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Society,'
vol. xix., 1850. It is again mentioned in the 'P. Z. S.' for 1853,
with a plate (No. xxxvi.), and a further account of it, with several
plates, will be found in Professor Milne-Edwards's 'Recherches sur
les Mammiferes' (pp. 367 to 377).
As my time has been very much occupied lately, I have not been able
to go through all that has been written on this singular antelope,
but I have been fortunate enough to find a willing helper in Mr. J.
Cockburn, who, always ready to assist in the study to which he has
devoted himself, has given me the following notes, which I have given
in the following notice, as they stand under the heading DESCRIPTION.
_GENUS BUDORCAS_.
A heavily-built, somewhat cow-shaped animal, with curiously bent
horns, which spring upwards, but soon bend laterally outward and then
upwards and backwards with angular curves; a front view resembles
a trident with the centre prong removed. The chevron is highly arched,
and the false hoofs are very large.
NO. 455. BUDORCAS TAXICOLOR.
_The Takin_.
NATIVE NAMES.--_Takin_ or _Takhon_, pronounced nasally.
HABITAT.--The Mishmi hills, Assam, Thibet.
[Illustration: _Budorcas taxicolor_.]
DESCRIPTION.--"The takin is a large, heavily-built ruminant, about
3 feet 6 inches high at the shoulder and 6 feet in total length. The
external peculiarities of the animal are: first, peculiar angularly
curved horns in both sexes; second, the enormously arched chevron;
third, the very great development of the spurious hoofs, which are
obtusely conical, and about 1-1/2 inches in length in a small
specimen.
"The colour of the adult in one stage is fulvous throughout, some
of the hairs being dark tipped. Legs, tail, muzzle and dorsal stripe
black.
"Old bulls appear to become of an uniform brownish-black at times,
but the colour doubtless depends on the season, as each hair has the
basal two-thirds yellow, and its apical third black, and the young
its hair brown with a dark tint. The takin, pronounced takhon
(nasally), is found just outside British limits in the Mishmi and
Akha hills, north of Assam. It extends into the mountainous parts
of Chinese Thibet, whence it has lately been procured by the
adventurous Abbe David, and has been described by the great French
naturalist A. Milne-Edwards, in his work 'Recherches sur les
Mammiferes,' with some osteological details which were hitherto
wanting, but no more than the limb bones appear to have been obtained.
"The horns of the takin have been considered to bear some likeness
to those of the gnu (_Catoblepas_), but I fail to trace a resemblance.
Hodgson's description of the horns is as follows:--
"'The horns of the takin are inserted on the highest part of the
forehead. The horns are nearly in contact at their bases. Their
direction is first vertically upwards, then horizontally outwards,
or to the sides, and then almost as horizontally backwards. The
length of each horn is about 20 inches along the curves, but their
thickness is great. The tail is about three inches long.'
"This remarkable animal was originally described by Brian Hodgson
in 1850, from specimens procured by Major Jenkins from the Mishmis,
north-east of Sadya. Skulls and skins are fairly common among the
residents of Debroogurh, and two perfect skins of adults were lately
presented by Colonel Graham to the Indian Museum.
"It is to be regretted that the skeleton of the animal remains unknown
to science; from information collected by myself from the Mishmis,
it was apparent that they might easily be procured.
"The animal would appear to range from about 8000 feet to the Alpine
region, which is stated to be its habitat.
"While at Sadya a Mishmi chief pointed me out various spurs of the
Himalayas, tantalisingly close, where he stated that he had hunted
the animal.
"Hodgson's paper on the takin was published in the 'Jour. As. Soc.'
vol. xix., pp. 65, 75, with three plates, a drawing of the animal,
and two views of the skull.
"The next figure was by Wolf, in the 'Proc. of the Zool. Soc.' for
1853, pt. xxxvi., and is perhaps the worst he has ever done. Neither
of these drawings are correct; and it is to be hoped that Professor
Milne-Edwards has more materials for his picture than flat skins and
limb bones.
"Professor Milne-Edwards was inclined to consider his specimens a
distinct variety from the Mishmi animal, and calls it _Budorcas
taxicola (sic)_ var. _Tibetana_.
"The difference the professor points out, namely the fulvous colour
and the thinner undeveloped horns, exist in various specimens of the
Mishmi takin, and there can be no question but that the animals are
identical.
"The slaty colour of Wolf's drawing is probably due to an incorrect
conception of Hodgson's term grey, which he defines as a
yellowish-grey.
"The takin is essentially a serow (_Nemorhoedus_), with affinities
to the bovines through the musk ox (_Ovibos moschata_), and other
relationship to the sheep, goat and antelope. The development of the
spurious hoofs would indicate that it frequents very steep
ground."--_J. C._
_GENUS GAZELLA--THE GAZELLES_.
These are small animals of slender frame; bovine muzzle; of sandy
colour above and white underneath; small annulated horns, curved
gracefully backwards, and in some species so elegantly formed as to
take the shape of a lyre on looking at them full in front. The females
of some have smaller, smoother horns, but others are hornless. The
skull has an anteorbital vacuity, with a small anteorbital fossa.
The auditory bullae are large; "eye-pits small; groin-pits distinct;
large feet-pits in all feet; knees tufted" (_Jerdon_). The face has
a white band running from the outer side of the base of each horn
down to the muzzle, the space between forming a dark triangular patch
bordered with a deeper tint. Sir Victor Brooke classifies the twenty
or so known species as follows:--
I.--BACK UNSTRIPED.
Dentition:--Inc. 0/3; can. 0/1; prem. 3/3; molars, 3/3.
A.--_The white colour of the rump not encroaching on the fawn of the
haunches._
_a_. BOTH SEXES WITH HORNS.
Horns lyrate or semi-lyrate: _Gazella dorcas_; _G. Isabella_; _G.
rufifrons_; _G. loevipes_; _G. melanura_.
Horns non-lyrate: _Gazella Cuvieri_; _G. leptoceros_; _G. Spekii_;
_G. Arabica_; _G. Bennetti_; _G. fuscifrons_.
_b_. FEMALES HORNLESS.
_Gazella subgutterosa_; _G. gutterosa_; _G. picticaudata_.
B.--_White of rump projecting forwards in an angle into the fawn
colour of the haunches._
_Gazella dama_; _G. mohr_; _G. Soemmerringii_; _G. Granti_.
II.--BACK WITH A WHITE MEDIAN STRIPE.
One premolar less in the lower jaw: _Gazella euchore_.
Of the above species the following come under the scope of this work:
_Gazella Bennetti_; _G. fuscifrons_; _G. subgutterosa_; _G.
picticaudata_.
NO. 456. GAZELLA BENNETTI.
_The Indian Gazelle_ (_Jerdon's No. 229_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Chikara_, Hindi; _Kal-punch_, Hindi; _Kal-sipi_,
Mahratti; _Hirni_, in the Punjab; _Tiska_, also _Budari_ and
_Mudari_, Canarese; _Barudu-jinka_, Telegu; _Porsya_ (male) and
_Chari_ (female), of Baoris.
HABITAT.--Mr. W. Blanford defines the limits of this species as
follows ('P. Z. S.,' 1873, p. 315)--the italics are mine: "It is found
throughout the Punjab, North-west Provinces, Rajputana, Sind
(unless in part replaced by the next species), Kachh, Kathiawar,
Guzerat, and the whole Bombay Presidency, _with the exception of the
Western Ghats and the low land on Konkan, along the western coast,
south of the neighbourhood of Daman_. It is also met with in the
Narbada and Tapti valleys, Bandelkand, the Son valley, and Rewah,
in the Nagpur and Chanda country, Berar, the Hyderabad territories,
and other parts of Southern India, _with the complete exception of
the Malabar coast and the adjacent hills_." He adds that from the
evidence of Colonel McMaster and Colonel Douglas Hamilton, both good
authorities, it is not known to occur much south of the Krishna river,
nor is it found in the Ganges valley east of Benares, in Eastern Behar,
the Santal Pergunnahs, Chotia Nagpur, Birbhum, &c., Chhatisgurh, the
Mahanadi valley, Orissa, Bastar, and the east coast, generally north
of the river Krishna. He says it is met with in the Narbada valley,
but I have also found it common on the plateaux of the Satpura range.
[Illustration: _Gazella Bennetti_ (male and female).]
DESCRIPTION.--"Fawn brown above, darker where it joins the white of
the sides and buttocks; chin, breast, lower parts and buttocks behind
white; tail, knee-tufts and fetlocks behind black; a dark brown spot
on the nose, and a dark line from the eyes to the mouth, bordered
by a light one above" (_Jerdon_).
SIZE.--Length, 3-1/2 feet; height, 26 inches at shoulder, 28 inches
at croup.
The horns run from 10 to 14 inches in the male, but, in fact, few
exceed a foot. The longest of six pairs in my collection measure 12
inches, and the head is looked upon as a fine one. I agree with Jerdon
that there must be some mistake about 18-inch horns recorded from
the Punjab.
This pretty little creature, miscalled "ravine-deer," is familiar
to most shikaris. How it got called a _deer_ it is difficult to say,
except on the principle of "rats and mice, and such small deer." The
Madras term of "goat-antelope" is more appropriate. I remember once,
when out on field service with the late Dr. Jerdon during the Indian
Mutiny, a few _chikara_ crossed our line of march. A young and
somewhat bumptious ensign, who knew not of the fame of the doctor
as a naturalist, called out: "There are some deer, there are some
deer." "Those are not deer," quietly remarked Jerdon. "Oh, I say,"
exclaimed the boy, thinking he had got a rise out of the doctor;
"Jerdon says those are not deer!" "No more they are, young man--no
more they are; much more of the goat--much more of the goat."
This gazelle frequents broken ground, with sandy nullahs bordered
by scrub jungle, and is most common in dry climates. It is unknown,
I believe, in Bengal and, according to Jerdon, on the Malabar coast,
but is, I think, found almost everywhere else in India. It abounds
in the Central provinces, and I have found it in parts of the Punjab,
and it is common throughout the North-west. It is a wary, restless
little beast, and requires good shooting, for it does not afford much
of a mark. When disturbed they keep constantly shifting, not going
far, but hovering about in a most tantalising way. Natives it cares
little for, unless it be a shikari with a gun, of which it seems to
have intuitive perception; but the ordinary cultivator, with his
load of wood and grass, may approach within easy shot; therefore it
is not a bad plan, when there is no available cover, to get one of
these men to walk alongside of you, whilst, with a horse-cloth or
blanket over you, you make yourself look as like your guide as you
can. A horse or bullock is also a great help. I had a little bullock
which formed part of some loot at Banda--a very handsome little bull,
easy to ride and steady under fire--and I found him most useful in
stalking black buck and gazelle.
When alarmed, the _chikara_ stamps its foot and gives a sharp little
hiss. It is generally found in small herds of four or five, but often
singly. Jerdon, however, says that in the extreme North-west he had
seen twenty or more together, and this is corroborated by Kinloch.
They are sometimes hunted by hawks and dogs combined, the _churrug_
(_Falco sacer_) being the hawk usually employed, as mentioned both
by Kinloch and Hodgson, writing of opposite ends of the great
Himalayan chain. The hawk stoops at the head of its quarry and
confuses it, whilst the dogs, who would otherwise have no chance,
run up and seize it.
The poor little gazelle has also many other enemies--jackals and
wolves being amongst the number. Captain Baldwin, in his interesting
book, writes: "Like other antelopes, the little ravine-deer has many
enemies besides man. One day, when out with my rifle, I noticed an
old female gazelle stamping her feet, and every now and then making
that hiss which is the alarm note of the animal. It was not I that
was the cause of her terror, for I had passed close to her only a
few minutes before, and she seemed to understand by my manner that
I meant no harm; no, there was something else. I turned back, and,
on looking down a ravine close by, saw a crafty wolf attempting a
stalk on the mother and young one. Another day, at Agra, a pair of
jackals joined in the chase of a wounded buck." Brigadier-General
McMaster also relates how he and two friends, whilst coursing,
watched for a long time four jackals trying to force one of a small
herd of young bucks to separate from the rest. "The gazelles stood
in a circle, and maintained their ground well by keeping their heads
very gallantly outwards to their foes, until at length, seeing us,
both sides made off. We laid the greyhounds into and killed one of
the jackals."
NO. 457. GAZELLA FUSCIFRONS.
_The Baluchistan Gazelle_.
HABITAT.--The deserts of Jalk between Seistan and Baluchistan.
DESCRIPTION.--"Central facial band strongly marked, grizzled black;
light facial streak grey, fairly definite, as is also the blackish
dark facial streak; cheeks and anterior of neck grey; back of the
neck, back, sides, haunches and legs sandy; lateral streaks wanting;
belly and rump whitish; knee-brushes long, black; ears very long;
horns (of female only known) strongly annulated, bending forwards
and very slightly inwards at the tips" (_Sir V. Brooke_, 'P. Z. S.,'
1873, p. 545).
SIZE.--Total length, from tip of nose to end of tail, 4 feet; height
at shoulder, 1 foot 11 inches.
This curious species was first brought to notice by Mr. Blanford.
It is distinguished, he says, from the Indian _G. Bennetti_--first
by colour, and secondly by the greater length and more strongly
marked annulation of the horns of the female. "The face in the Indian
gazelle," he says, "is nearly uniform rufescent fawn colour; the
parts that are black and blackish in _G. fuscifrons_ being only a
little darker than the rest in _G. Bennetti_; the back also in the
latter is more rufescent and less yellow, and the hairs are less
dense."
* * * * *
The following two species belong to section _B_, of which the females
are hornless.
NO. 458. GAZELLA SUBGUTTEROSA.
_The Persian Gazelle_.
NATIVE NAMES.--_Kik_, _Sai-kik_, and _Jairan_, Turki of Yarkand and
Kashgar (_Blanford_).
HABITAT.--The high lands of Persia; to the north-west it is found
as far as Tabriz; it is probably, according to Blanford, the gazelle
of Meshed and Herat; on the east it extends to the frontier of India,
and is found in Afghanistan and northern Baluchistan; a variety also
exists in Yarkand.
[Illustration: _Gazella subgutterosa_.]
DESCRIPTION.--"Hair in winter rough and coarse, in summer much
softer and smoother. During both seasons the dirty white of the face
and cheeks is only relieved by the dark facial streak, which is short
and narrow, but defined by a sprinkling of rufous hairs; the lateral
and pygal bands are very faintly indicated, the dark bands being more
rufous, the light band rather paler than the grey fawn colour of the
upper parts of the body; breast and belly white; tail and ears
moderate in length, the former blackish-rufous. Horns absent in the
female; in the male long, annulated and lyrate, the points projecting
inwards" (_Sir V. Brooke_). According to Blanford, who seemed
doubtful whether it should not be raised to the rank of a species,
the Yarkand variety differs from the typical _G. subgutterosa_ in
the very much darker markings on the face, and in the much smaller
degree to which the horns diverge; he adds, however, that as there
is some variation in face-markings amongst Persian specimens, it is
perhaps better to consider the Yarkand race as only a variety. He
gives a very good coloured plate of the animal. ('Sc. Results, Second
Yarkand Mission--Mammalia.')
NO. 459. GAZELLA PICTICAUDATA.
_Thibetan Gazelle_.
NATIVE NAME.--_Goa_, Thibetan.
HABITAT.--Ladakh. Abundant, according to Kinloch, on the plateau to
the south-east of the Tsomoriri lake, on the hills east of Hanle,
and in the Indus valley from Demchok, the frontier village of Ladakh,
as far down as Nyima. He had also seen it on the Nakpogoding pass
to the north of the Tsomoriri, and picked up a horn on the banks of
the Sutlej beyond the Niti pass.
DESCRIPTION.--Hair in winter long and softish; facial and lateral
markings wanting; breast, belly and anal disk which surrounds the
tail dirty white; the rest of the body grizzled fawn-colour, becoming
more rusty towards the anal disk, a rusty line sometimes running
through the disk to the short tail, the tip of which is rusty brown;
the hairs about the corners of the mouth elongated. In the summer
the coat is short and of a slaty-grey colour. Ears very short; horns
long, annulated--diverge as they rise, bending forwards and
backwards, again forwards, and a little inwards at the tips. Skull:
anteorbital fossa _very_ shallow, nasals converging to a point, and
rather elongated (_Sir Victor Brooke_, 'P. Z. S.,' 1873, p. 547).
SIZE.--Height, about 18 inches.
There is a lovely little photograph of this gazelle in Kinloch's
'Large Game of Thibet,' wonderfully life-like; the head seems to
stand out from the page. He describes it under Hodgson's generic name,
_Procapra_, but there is no reason for separating it from _Gazella_.
He says: "The goa avoid rocky and steep ground, preferring the
undulating plains and gently sloping valleys. Early in the season
they are to be found in small herds, frequently close to the snow;
as this melts they appear to disperse themselves over the higher
ground, being often found singly or in twos and threes."
_GENUS PANTHOLOPS_.
Between the gazelles and antelopes proper comes the _chiru_
(_Pantholops Hodgsonii_), though strictly speaking it is, with the
saiga antelope (_Saiga Tartarica_), though in a somewhat less degree,
connected by cranial affinities with the sheep. The saiga is notable
for its highly-arched nose and inflated nostrils, which are so much
lengthened as to necessitate the animal's walking backwards when it
feeds. The _chiru_ is not quite so developed in this respect. The
skull of the saiga is unique among ruminants, and those who wish to
become acquainted with its most minute osteological details should
refer to an article on this animal by Dr. James Murie in the 'P. Z.
S.,' 1870, p. 457. I can only here give a very brief summary of the
chief characteristics. Looked at in profile, the nasal bones we find
to be remarkably short, the face being hollowed out, as it were,
between the upper nasal cartilage and the very long and narrow
maxillary and pre-maxillary bones; great vertical depth from the top
of the nasal to the bottom of the maxillary bones; a very prominent
bovine orbit, above and a little behind which the short tapering
horns of a gazelle type are placed. The lower nasal cartilage is
prolonged on to the fibrous cord of the nares, and the profile view
of the animal in life is that of a grotesquely Roman-nosed antelope
with swollen nostrils. Its nearest relative in India is the _chiru_,
which has certain points of resemblance. The nose is but slightly
arched, but the nostrils are more swollen than in antelopes as a rule.
This is not sufficiently rendered in an otherwise admirable coloured
plate in Blanford's 'Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand
Mission,' but it is more apparent in the photograph of the head in
Kinloch's 'Large Game of Thibet.' Another approach to the saiga is
in the position of the horns, which, though of the same class, are
much longer and more attenuated, but the position over the eye and
the osseous development of the orbit are the same. The nasal bones
are also shorter in proportion to other antelopes. The super-orbital
foramina just under the horns, which are marked in most antelope and
deer, are very minute in _Pantholops_. Dr. Murie notices the
inflation of the post-maxilla in the saiga, and states that a similar
extension is to be found in the _chiru_.
[Illustration: Saiga Antelope.]
NO. 460. PANTHOLOPS HODGSONII.
_The Chiru_.
NATIVE NAMES.--_Chiru_ in Nepal; _Isos_ in Thibet (_Strachey_); also
_Isors_ or _Choos_ (_Kinloch_).
HABITAT.--The open plains of Thibet from Lhassa to Ladakh.
[Illustration: _Pantholops Hodgsonii_.]
DESCRIPTION.--The following description was written in 1830,
apparently by Mr. Brian Hodgson himself, and was published in
'Gleanings in Science' (vol. ii., p. 348), probably the first
scientific magazine in India. As I have seen no better account of
this curious antelope I give it as it stands. Mr. Hodgson had the
advantage of drawing from life, he having had a living specimen as
a pet:--
"Antelope with very long, compressed, tapering, sub-erect (?
sub-lyrated) horns, having a slight concave arctuation forwards, and
blunt annulations (prominently ridged on the frontal surface),
except near the tips; a double coat throughout, greyish blue
internally, but superficially fawn-coloured above, and white below,
a black forehead, and stripes down the legs; and a tumour or tuft
above either nostril.
"The ears and tail are moderate and devoid of any peculiarity; so
likewise are the sub-orbital sinuses.[38] The horns are exceedingly
long, measuring in some individuals nearly 2-1/2 feet. They are
placed very forward on the head, and may popularly be said to be erect
and straight, though a reference to the specific character will show
that they are not strictly one or the other.
"The general surface of the horns is smooth and polished, but its
uniformity is broken by a series of from fifteen to twenty rings
extending from the base to within six inches of the tip of each horn.
Upon the lateral and dorsal surfaces of the horns these rings are
little elevated, and present a wavy rather than a ridgy appearance;
but on the frontal surface the rings exhibit a succession of heavy,
large ridges, with furrows between; the annulation is nowhere
acutely edged. The horns have a very considerable lateral
compression towards the base, where their extent fore and aft is
nearly double of that from side to side; upwards from the base the
lateral compression becomes gradually less, and towards their tips
the horns are nearly rounded. Compared with their length the
thickness of the horns is as nothing--in other words they are slender,
but not therefore by any means weak. The tips are acute rather than
otherwise; the divergence at the points is from one-third to one-half
of the length. At the base a finger can hardly be passed between the
horns. Throughout five-sixths of their length from the base the horns
describe an uniform slightly inward curve, and on the top angle of
the curve they turn inwards again more suddenly, but still slightly,
the points of the horns being thus directed inwards; the lateral view
of the horns shows a considerable concave arctuation forwards, but
chiefly derived from the upper part of the horns."
[Footnote 38: These are wanting.--R. A. S.]
There is an excellent coloured plate of this animal in Blanford's
'Mammalia of the Second Yarkand Mission.' The only fault I see lies
in the muzzle, especially of the male, which the artist has made as
fine as that of a gazelle. The photograph in Kinloch's 'Large Game
of Thibet' shows the puffiness of the nostrils much better; the
latter author says of it:--
"The Thibetan antelope is a thoroughly game-looking animal; in size
it considerably exceeds the common black buck or antelope of India,
and is not so elegantly made. Its colour is a reddish fawn, verging
on white in very old individuals. A dark stripe runs down the
shoulders and flanks, and the legs are also dark brown. The face alone
is nearly black, especially in old bucks. The hair is long and brittle,
and extraordinarily thick-set, forming a beautiful velvety cushion,
which must most effectually protect the animal from the intense cold
of the elevated regions which it inhabits. A peculiarity about this
antelope is the existence of two orifices in the groin, which
communicate with long tubes running up into the body. The Tartars
say that the antelope inflates these with air, and is thereby enabled
to run with greater swiftness! The muzzle of the Thibetan antelope
is quite different from that of most of the deer and antelope tribe,
being thick and puffed looking, with a small rudimentary beard; the
eyes are set high up in the head; the sub-orbital sinus is wanting;
the horns are singularly handsome, jet black, and of the closest
grain, averaging about twenty-three or twenty-four inches in length.
They are beautifully adapted for knife handles. The females have
short black horns, and are much smaller than the males."
The last is a doubtful point; as far as I have been able to gather
evidence on the subject the female appears to be hornless, which
allies _Pantholops_ more to the antelopes and the gazelles. Major
Kinloch may have taken some young males for females, the general
colouring being much the same. In the 'Proceedings of the Zoological
Society' for 1834, p. 80, there is an extract from a letter from Mr.
Hodgson, which, with reference to previous correspondence, says:
"The communications referred to left only the inguinal pores, the
number of teats in the female, and the fact of her being cornute or
otherwise, doubtful. These points are now cleared up. The female is
hornless, and has two teats only; she has no marks on the face or
limbs, and is rather smaller than the male. The male has a large pouch
at each groin, as in _Ant. dorcas_; that of the female is considerably
smaller." Mr. Hodgson further remarks that "the _chiru_ antelope can
only belong either to the gazelline or the antelopine group. Hornless
females would place it among the latter; but lyrate horns, ovine nose,
and want of sinus, would give it rather to Gazella, and its singular
inguinal purses further ally it to _Ant. dorcas_ of this group. But
from Gazella it is distinguished by the accessory nostrils, of
inter-maxillary pouch, the hornless females, the absence of tufts
on the knees, and of bands on the flanks. The _chiru_, with his bluff
bristly nose, his inter-maxillary pouches, and hollow-cored horns,
stands in some respects alone."
Hodgson was apparently not well acquainted at the time with saiga,
or he would have certainly alluded to the affinity. Kinloch has the
following regarding its habits:--
"In Chang Chenmo, where I have met with it, the elevation can be
nowhere less than 14,000 feet, and some of the feeding grounds cannot
be less than 18,000. In the early part of summer the antelope appear
to keep on the higher and more exposed plains and slopes when the
snow does not lie; as the season becomes warmer, the snow, which has
accumulated on the grassy banks of the streams in the sheltered
valleys, begins to dissolve, and the antelope then come down to feed
on the grass which grows abundantly in such places, and then is the
time when they may easily be stalked and shot. They usually feed only
in the mornings and evenings, and in the day-time seek more open and
elevated situations, frequently excavating deep holes in the stony
plains, in which they lie, with only their heads and horns visible
above the surface of the ground. It is a curious fact that females
are rarely found in Chang Chenmo; I have met with herds of sixty or
seventy bucks, but have only seen one doe to my knowledge during the
three times that I visited the valley."
_GENUS ANTELOPE_ (_restricted_).
Horns in the male only; abnormal cases of horned females are on record,
but they only prove the rule. No muffle; sub-orbital sinus moderate,
somewhat linear; no canines; groin-pits large; feet-pits present.
In the skull the sub-orbital fossa is large.
NO. 461. ANTELOPE BEZOARTICA.
_The Indian Antelope_ (_Jerdon's No. 228_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Mrig_ or _Mirga_, Sanscrit; _Harna_, _Hirun_,
_Harin_ (male) and _Hirni_ (female), Hindi; also _Kalwit_, Hindi,
according to Jerdon; _Goria_ (female) and _Kala_ (male), in Tirhoot;
_Kalsar_ (male) and _Baoti_ (female), in Behar; _Bureta_, in
Bhagulpore; _Barout_ and _Sasin_, in Nepal; _Phandayet_, Mahrathi
(_Jerdon_). _Hiru_ and _Bamuni-hiru_, Mahrathi; _Chigri_, Canarese;
_Irri_ (male), _Sedi_ (female), and _Jinka_, Telegu; _Alali_ (male)
and _Gandoli_ (female), of Baoris.
HABITAT.--In open plain country throughout India except in Lower
Bengal and Malabar. In the Punjab it does not cross the Indus. Dr.
Jerdon says: "I have seen larger herds in the neighbourhood of Jalna
in the Deccan than anywhere else--occasionally some thousands
together, with black bucks in proportion. Now and then, Dr. Scott
informs me, they have been observed in the Government cattle-farm
at Hissar in herds calculated at 8000 to 10,000." I must say I have
never seen anything like this, although in the North-west, between
Aligarh and Delhi, I have noticed very large herds; in the Central
provinces thirty to forty make a fair average herd, though smaller
ones are more common. These small parties generally consist of does,
and perhaps two or three young sandy bucks lorded over by one old
black buck, who will not allow any other of his colour to approach
without the ordeal of battle. I have lately heard of them in Assam,
but forget the precise locality.
[Illustration: _Antelope bezoartica_.]
DESCRIPTION.--Form supple and elegant, with graceful curves; the
neck held up proudly; the head adorned with long, spiral, and closely
annulated horns, close at the base, but diverging at the tips in a
V form. In very large specimens there are five flexures in the horn,
but generally four. They are perfectly round, and taper gradually
to the tips, which are smooth; the bony cores are also spiral, so
that in the dry skull the horn screws on and off. The colour of the
old males is deep blackish-brown, the back and sides with an abrupt
line of separation from the white of the belly; the dark colour also
extends down the outer surface of the limbs; the back of the head,
nape and neck are hoary yellowish; under parts and inside of limbs
pure white; the face is black, with a white circle round the eyes
and nose; the tail is short; the young males are fawn-coloured. The
females are hornless, somewhat smaller, and pale yellowish-fawn
above, white below, with a pale streak from the shoulder to the
haunch.
SIZE.--Length, about 4 feet to root of tail; tail, 7 inches; height
at shoulder, 32 inches. Horns, average length about 20 inches--fine
ones 22, unusual 24, very rare 26. Sir Barrow Ellis has or had a pair
26-1/2, with only three flexures; 28 has been recorded by "Triangle"
in _The Asian_, and 30 spoken of elsewhere, but I have as yet seen
no proof of the latter. The measurement should be taken straight from
base to tip, and not following the curves of the spiral. I have shot
some a little over 22, but never more. I believe, however, that the
longest horns come from the North-west.
This antelope is so well known that it is hardly necessary to dilate
at length on it; every shikari in India has had his own experiences,
but I will take from Sir Walter Elliot's account and Dr. Jerdon's
some paragraphs concerning the habits of the animal which cannot be
improved upon, and add a short extract from my own journals regarding
its love of locality:--
"When a herd is met with and alarmed, the does bound away for a short
distance, and then turn round to take a look; the buck follows more
leisurely, and generally brings up the rear. Before they are much
frightened they always bound or spring, and a large herd going off
in this way is one of the finest sights imaginable. But when at speed
the gallop is like that of any other animal. Some of the herds are
so large that one buck has from fifty to sixty does, and the young
bucks driven from these large flocks are found wandering in separate
herds, sometimes containing as many as thirty individuals of
different ages.
"They show some ingenuity in avoiding danger. In pursuing a buck once
into a field of _toor_, I suddenly lost sight of him, and found, after
a long search, that he had dropped down among the grain, and lay
concealed with his head close to the ground. Coming on another
occasion upon a buck and doe with a young fawn, the whole party took
to flight, but the fawn being very young, the old ones endeavoured
to make it lie down. Finding, however, that it persisted in running
after them, the buck turned round and repeatedly knocked it over in
a cotton field until it lay still, when they ran off, endeavouring
to attract my attention. Young fawns are frequently found concealed
and left quite by themselves."--_Elliot_.
Jerdon adds: "When a herd goes away on the approach of danger, if
any of the does are lingering behind, the buck comes up and drives
them off after the others, acting as whipper-in, and never allowing
one to drop behind. Bucks may often be seen fighting, and are then
so intently engaged, their heads often locked together by the horns,
that they may be approached very close before the common danger
causes them to separate. Bucks with broken horns are often met with,
caused by fights; and I have heard of bucks being sometimes caught
in this way, some nooses being attached to the horns of a tame one.
I have twice seen a wounded antelope pursued by greyhounds drop
suddenly into a small ravine, and lie close to the ground, allowing
the dogs to pass over it without noticing, and hurry forward." ('Mamm.
of India,' p. 278.)
I have myself experienced some curious instances of the hiding
propensities spoken of by Sir Walter Elliot and Dr. Jerdon. In my
book on Seonee I have given a case of a wounded buck which I rode
down to the brink of a river, when he suddenly disappeared. The
country was open, and I was so close behind him that it seemed
impossible for him to have got out of sight in so short a space of
time; but I looked right and left without seeing a trace of him, and,
hailing some fishermen on the opposite bank, found that they had not
seen him cross. Finally my eye lighted on what seemed to be a couple
of sticks projecting from a bed of rushes some four or five feet from
the bank. Here was my friend submerged to the tip of his nose, with
nothing but the tell-tale horns sticking out.
This antelope attaches itself to localities, and after being driven
away for miles will return to its old place. The first buck I ever
shot I recovered, after having driven him away for some distance and
wounded him, in the very spot I first found him; and the following
extract from my journals will show how tenaciously they cling
sometimes to favourite places:--
"I was out on the boundary between Khapa and Belgaon, and came across
a particularly fine old buck, with very wide-spreading horns; so
peculiar were they that I could have sworn to the head amongst a
thousand. He was too far for a safe shot when I first saw him, but
I could not resist the chance of a snap at him, and tried it, but
missed; and I left the place. My work led me again soon after to
Belgaon itself, and whilst I was in camp there I found my friend
again; but he was very wary; for three days I hunted him about, but
could not get a shot. At last I got my chance; it was on the morning
of the day I left Belgaon, I rode round by the boundary, when up jumped
my friend from a bed of rushes, and took off across country. I
followed him cautiously, and found him again with some does about
two miles off. A man was ploughing in the field close by; so, hailing
him, I got his bullocks and drove them carefully up past the does.
We splashed through a nullah, and waded through a lot of rushes, and
at last I found myself behind a clump of coarse grass, with a nullah
between me and the antelope. They jumped up on my approach, and Blacky,
seeing his enemy, made a speedy bolt of it; but I was within easy
range of him, and a bullet brought him down on his head with a complete
somersault. Now this buck, in spite of the previous shot at him, and
being hunted about from day to day, never left his ground, and used
to sleep every night in a field near my tent."
This antelope has been raised by the Hindoos amongst the
constellations harnessed to the chariot of the moon. Brahmins can
feed on its flesh under certain circumstances prescribed by the
'Institutes of Menu,' and it is sometimes tamed by Fakirs. It is
easily domesticated, but the bucks are always dangerous when their
horns are full grown, especially to children. The breeding season
begins in the spring, but fawns of all ages may be seen at any time
of the year. The flesh of this species is among the best of the wild
ruminants.
* * * * *
The next group of antelopes are those with smooth horns, without
knots; spiral in some African species, but short and straight, or
but slightly curved in the Indian ones. Females hornless. There are
but two genera in India, _Portax_ and _Tetraceros_.
_GENUS PORTAX--THE NYLGAO_.
Horns on back edge of frontal bone behind the orbit, short, recurved,
conical and smooth, angular at the base; bovine nose with large moist
muffle; small eye-pits; hind legs shorter than the front; tail long
and tufted; back short, sloping down from high withers; the neck deep
and compressed like a horse, with a short upright mane; on the throat
of the male under a white patch is a long tuft of black hair. In the
skull the nasal opening is small, and the molars have, according to
Dr. Gray, supplementary lobes. Dr. Jerdon says: "There is a small
pit in front of the orbit, and anterior to this a small longitudinal
fold, in the middle of which there is a pore through which exudes
a yellow secretion from the gland beneath."
The female has sometimes in an abnormal condition been found with
horns. Mr. J. Cockburn, in a letter to _The Asian_ (11th of November,
1879, p. 40), describes such a one.
NO. 462. PORTAX PICTUS _vel_ TRAGOCAMELUS.
_The Nylgao or Blue Bull_ (_Jerdon's No. 226_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Nilgao_, _Nilgai_, or _Lilgao_, _Lilgai_, _Rojra_
or _Rojh_, _Rooi_ (female), Hindi; _Guraya_, Gondi; _Maravi_,
Canarese; _Manupotu_, Telegu.
HABITAT.--India generally, from the Himalayas to the south. It is
not common south of the Ganges, nor, according to Jerdon, is it found
in the extreme south of India.
[Illustration: _Portax pictus_.]
DESCRIPTION.--A horse-like animal at the first glance, owing to its
lean head, long, flat, and deep neck, and high withers, but with
cervine hind-quarters, lower than in front. The male is of an iron
grey colour, intensified by age; the inside of the ears, lips, and
chin are white; a large white patch on the throat, below which is
the pendant tuft of black hair; the chest, stomach, and rings on the
fetlocks, white; mane, throat-tuft and tip of tail, black. The female
is a sandy or tawny colour, and is somewhat smaller than the male.
SIZE.--Length of male, 6-1/2 to 7 feet; tail 18 to 22 inches; height
at shoulder, from 13 to 14-1/2 hands; horns, from 8 to 10 inches.
The nilgao inhabits open country with scrub or scanty tree jungle,
also, in the Central provinces, low hilly tracts with open glades
and valleys. He feeds on beyr (_Zizyphus jujuba_) and other trees,
and at times even devours such quantities of the intensely acrid
berries of the _aonla_ (_Phyllanthus emblica_) that his flesh
becomes saturated with the bitter elements of the fruit. This is most
noticeable in soup, less so in a steak, which is at times not bad.
The tongue and marrow-bones, however, are generally as much as the
sportsman claims, and, in the Central provinces at least, the natives
are grateful for all the rest.
He rests during the day in shade, but is less of a nocturnal feeder
than the sambar stag. I have found nilgao feeding at all times of
the day. The droppings are usually found in one place. The nilgao
drinks daily, the sambar only every third day, and many are shot over
water. Although he is such an imposing animal, the blue bull is but
poor shooting, unless when fairly run down in the open. With a sharp
spurt he is easily blown, but if not pressed will gallop for ever.
In some parts of India nilgai are speared in this way. I myself
preferred shooting them either from a light double-barrelled carbine
or large bore pistol when alongside; the jobbing at such a large
cow-like animal with a spear was always repugnant to my feelings.
They are very tenacious of life. I once knocked one over as I thought
dead, and, putting my rifle against a tree, went to help my shikaree
to _hallal_ him, when he jumped up, kicked us over, and disappeared
in the jungle; I never saw him again. A similar thing happened to
a friend who was with me, only he sat upon his supposed dead bull,
quietly smoking a cigar and waiting for his shikarees, when up sprang
the animal, sending him flying, and vanished. On another occasion,
whilst walking through the jungle, I came suddenly on a fine dark
male standing chest on to me. I hardly noticed him at first; but,
just as he was about to plunge away into the thicket, I rapidly fired,
and with a bound he was out of sight. I hunted all over the place
and could find no trace of him. At last, by circling round, I suddenly
came upon him at about thirty yards off, standing broadside on. I
gave him a shot and heard the bullet strike, but there was not the
slightest motion. I could hardly believe that he was dead in such
a posture. I went up close, and finally stopped in front of him; his
neck was stretched out, his mouth open and eyes rolling, but he seemed
paralysed. I stepped up close and put a ball through his ear, when
he fell dead with a groan. I have never seen anything like it before
or since, and can only suppose that the shot in the chest had in some
way choked him. I have alluded to this incident in my book on Seonee;
it was in that district that it occurred.
The nilgao is the only one of the deer and antelope of India that
could be turned to any useful purpose. The sambar stag, though almost
equal in size, will not bear the slightest burden, but the nilgao
will carry a man. I had one in my collection of animals which I trained,
not to saddle, for such a thing would not stay on his back, but to
saddle-cloth. He was a little difficult to ride, rather jumpy at
times, otherwise his pace was a shuffling trot. I used to take him
out into camp with me, and made him earn his grain by carrying the
servants' bundles. He was not very safe, for he was, when excited,
apt to charge; and a charge from a blue bull with his short sharp
horns is not to be despised. In some parts the Hindoos will not touch
the flesh of this animal, which they believe to be allied to the cow.
It has much more of a horsey look about it. McMaster says that in
some parts of the Coimbatore district the natives described this
creature to Colonel Douglas Hamilton as a wild horse, and called it
by a name signifying such. He also notices the resemblance of the
Gondi name _Guraya_, to the Hindi _Ghora_.
_GENUS TETRACEROS_.
Horns four, conical, smooth, slightly bent forward at tip, the
anterior ones very short, sometimes rudimentary, which has led to
the distinction of a separate species by some naturalists; slightly
ringed at the base. The posterior ones situated far back on the
frontal bone, the anterior ones above the orbits; eye-pits small,
linear; muffle large; feet-pits in the hind feet; no groin-pits; four
mammae; canine teeth in the males; females hornless. The skull is
characterized by the large sub-orbital fossae which occupy nearly
the whole cheek. The various species--_sub-quadricornutus_ of
Elliot, _iodes_ and _paccerois_ of Hodgson--are but varieties of the
following only Indian species.
NO. 463. TETRACEROS QUADRICORNIS.
_The Four-horned Antelope_ (_Jerdon's No. 227_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Chowsingha_, _Chowka_. Jerdon also gives _Bherki_,
_Bekra_, and _Jangli-bakra_, but I have also heard these names given
by natives to the rib-faced deer (_Cervulus aureus_); _Bhir-kura_
(the male) and _Bhir_(female) Gondi; _Bhirul_ of Bheels; _Kotri_,
Bustar; _Kond-guri_, Canarese; _Konda-gori_, Telegu (_Jerdon_).
Kinloch also gives _Doda_, Hindi.
HABITAT.--Throughout India, but not in Ceylon or Burmah.
[Illustration: _Tetraceros quadricornis_.]
DESCRIPTION.--A small brownish-bay animal, slightly higher at the
croup than at the shoulder, which gives it a poky look, lighter
beneath and whitish inside the limbs and in the middle of the belly;
fore-legs, muzzle, and edge of ears dark; fetlocks dark, sometimes
ringed with lighter colour. The colouring varies a good deal. The
horns are situated as I have before described; the anterior ones are
subject to much variation; sometimes they are absent or represented
merely by a black callous skin; others are merely little knobs; the
largest seldom exceed an inch and a-half, and the posterior horns
five inches.
SIZE.--Head and body, 40 to 42 inches; height at shoulder, 24 to 26
inches; at croup a little higher.
This little antelope, the smallest of Indian hollow-horned ruminants,
is very shy and difficult to get, even in jungles where it abounds.
It was plentiful in the Seonee district, yet I seldom came across
it, and was long before I secured a pair of live ones for my collection.
It frequents, according to my experience, bamboo jungle; but,
according to Kinloch, Jerdon and other writers, it is found in jungly
hills and open glades, in the forests, and in bushy ground near dense
forests.
It is an awkward-looking creature in action, as it runs with its neck
stuck out in a poky sort of way, making short leaps; in walking it
trips along on the tips of its toes like the little mouse-deer
(_Meminna_). The young are stated to be born in the cold season.
General Hardwicke created great confusion for a time by applying the
name _chikara_, which is that of the _Gazella Bennetti_, to this
species. It is not good eating, but can be improved by being well
larded with mutton fat when roasted. McMaster believes in the
individuality of Elliot's antelope (_T. sub-quadricornutus_), but
more evidence is required before it can be separated from
_quadricornis_. The mere variation in size, or the presence or
absence of the anterior horns and the lighter shade of colour, are
not sufficient reasons for its separation as a species, for the
_quadricornis_ is subject to variation in like manner.[39]
[Footnote 39: See notes in Appendix C.]
BOVINAE--CATTLE.
These comprise the oxen, and wind up the hollow-horned ruminants as
far as India is concerned. There are in the New World some other very
interesting animals of this group, such as the musk-ox (_Ovibos_),
and the prong-horned antelope (_Antilocapra_), which last so far
resembles the Cervidae that the horns, which are bifurcate, are also
annually shed. They come off the bony core, on which the new horn
is already beginning to form.
The Bovines are animals of large size, horned in both sexes, a very
large and broad moist muffle, massive bodies and stout legs. The
horns, which are laterally wide spread, are supported on cores of
cellular bone, and are cylindrical or depressed at the base. The nose
broad, with the nostrils at the side. The skull has no sub-orbital
pit or fissure, and the bony orbit is prominent; grinders with a
well-developed supplementary lobe; cannon bone short. In India, the
groups into which this sub-family may be divided, are oxen, the
buffaloes, and the yaks. There are no true bison in our limits, the
commonly so-called bison being properly a wild ox. The taurine or
Ox group is divided into the _Zebus_, or humped domestic cattle;
_Taurus_, humpless cattle with cylindrical horns; and _Gavaeus_,
humpless cattle with flattened horns.
According to Dr. Jerdon, in some parts of India small herds of zebus
have run wild. He says:--
"Localities are recorded in Mysore, Oude, Rohilkund, Shahabad, &c.,
and I have lately seen and shot one in the Doab near Mozuffernugger.
These, however, have only been wild for a few years. Near Nellore,
in the Carnatic, on the sea-coast there is a herd of cattle that have
been wild for many years. The country they frequent is much covered
with jungle and intersected with salt-water creeks and back-waters,
and the cattle are as wild and wary as the most feral species. Their
horns were very long and upright, and they were of large size. I shot
one there in 1843, but had great difficulty in stalking it, and had
to follow it across one or two creeks."
_GENUS GAVAEUS_.
Massive head with large concave frontals, surmounted in _G. gaurus_
by a ridge or crest of bone; horns flattened on the outer surface,
corrugated at the base, and smooth for the rest of the two-thirds,
or a little more; wide-spreading and recurved at the tips, forming
a crescent; greenish grey for the basal half, darker towards the tips,
which are black; muffle small; dewlap small or absent; the spinous
processes of the dorsal vertebrae are greatly developed down to about
half the length of the back; legs small under the knee, and white
in colour; hoofs small and pointed, leaving a deer-like print in the
soil, very different to the splay foot of the buffalo.
NO. 464. GAVAEUS GAURUS.
_The Gaur, popularly called Bison_ (_Jerdon's No. 238_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Gaor_ or _Gaori-gai_, _Bun-boda_, Hindi; _Boda_ and
_Bunparra_ in the Seonee and Mandla districts; _Pera-maoo_ of
Southern Gonds; _Gaoiya_, Mahrathi; _Karkona_, Canarese; _Katuyeni_,
Tamil; _Jangli-kulgha_ in Southern India; _Pyoung_ in Burmah;
_Salandang_ in the Malay countries. Horsfield gives the following
names under his _Bibos asseel_: _As'l Gayal_, Hindi; _Seloi_, Kuki;
_P'hanj_ of the Mughs and Burmese, and some others which he considers
doubtful.
HABITAT.--Regarding this, I quote at length from Jerdon, whose
inquiries were carefully made. He says: "The gaur is an inhabitant
of all the large forests of India, from near Cape Comorin to the foot
of the Himalayas. On the west coast of India it is abundant all along
the Syhadr range on Western Ghats, both in the forests at the foot
of the hills, but more especially in the upland forests and the wooded
country beyond the crest of the Ghats. The Animally hills, the
Neilgherries, Wynaad, Coorg, the Bababooden hills, the Mahableshwar
hills, are all favourite haunts of this fine animal. North of this,
it occurs to my own knowledge in the jungles on the Taptee river and
the neighbourhood, and north of the Nerbudda; a few on the deeper
recesses of the Vindhian mountains. On the eastern side of the
peninsula it is found in the Pulney and Dindigul hills, the
Shandamungalum range, the Shervaroys, and some of the hill ranges
near Vellore and the borders of Mysore. North of this, the forest
being too scanty, it does not occur till the Kistna and Godavery
rivers; and hence it is to be found in suitable spots all along the
range of Eastern Ghats to near Cuttack and Midnapore, extending west
far into Central India, and northwards towards the edge of the great
plateau which terminates south of the Gangetic valley. According to
Hodgson it also occurs in the Himalayan Terai, probably however only
towards the eastern portion, and here it is rare, for I have spoken
to many sportsmen who have hunted in various parts of the Terai, from
Sikhim to Rohilkund, and none have ever come across the gaur at the
foot of the Himalayas."--'Mam. of Ind.,' p. 303. (See also Appendix
C.)
In the Central provinces the gaur is found in several parts of the
bamboo-clad spurs of the Satpura range. My experience of the animal
is limited to the Seonee district, where it is restricted to the now
closely preserved forests of Sonawani in the south-east bend of the
range, and a few are to be seen across occasionally, near the old
fort of Amodagarh, on the Hirri river.
It is also more abundant on the Pachmari and Mahadeo hills. On the
east of the Bay of Bengal it is found from Chittagong through Burmah
to the Malayan peninsula. It was considered that the gaur of the
eastern countries was a distinct species, and is so noted in
Horsfield's Catalogue, and described at some length under the name
of _Bibos asseel_; but it appears that all this distinction was
founded on the single skull of a female gaur, and is an instance of
the proneness of naturalists to create new species on insufficient
data. He himself remarks that when the skin was removed it was evident
that the animal was nearly related to _Gavaeus gaurus_, or, as he
calls it, _Bibos cavifrons_. Mr. G. P. Sanderson shot a fine old male
of what he supposed to be the wild _gayal_, and he says: "I can state
that there was not one single point of difference in appearance or
size between it and the bison of Southern India, except that the horns
were somewhat smaller than what would have been looked for in a bull
of its age in Southern India;" and this point was doubtless an
individual peculiarity, for Blyth, in his 'Catalogue of the Mammals
of Burmah,' says: "Nowhere does this grand species attain a finer
development than in Burmah, and the horns are mostly short and thick,
and very massive as compared with those of the Indian gaurs, though
the distinction is not constant on either side of the Bay of
Bengal."
Jerdon supposes it to have existed in Ceylon till within the present
century, but I do not know on what data he founds his assertion.
[Illustration: _Gavaeus gaurus_.]
DESCRIPTION.--I cannot improve on Jerdon's description, taken as it
is from the writings of Hodgson, Elliot, and Fisher, so I give it
as it stands, adding a few observations of my own on points not
alluded to by them:--
"The skull is massive; the frontals large, deeply concave,
surmounted by a large semi-cylindric crest rising above the base of
the horns. There are thirteen pairs of ribs.[40] The head is square,
proportionately smaller than in the ox; the bony frontal ridge is
five inches above the frontal plane; the muzzle is large and full,
the eyes small, with a full pupil (? iris) of a pale blue colour.
The whole of the head in front of the eyes is covered with a coat
of close short hair, of a light greyish-brown colour, which below
the eyes is darker, approaching almost to black; the muzzle is
greyish and the hair is thick and short; the ears are broad and
fan-shaped; the neck is sunk between the head and back, is short,
thick, and heavy. Behind the neck and immediately above the shoulder
rises a gibbosity or hump of the same height as the dorsal ridge.
This ridge rises gradually as it goes back, and terminates suddenly
about the middle of the back; the chest is broad; the shoulder deep
and muscular; the fore-legs short, with the joints very short and
strong, and the arm exceedingly large and muscular; the hair on the
neck and breast and beneath is longer than on the body, and the skin
of the throat is somewhat loose, giving the appearance of a slight
dewlap; the fore-legs have a rufous tint behind and laterally above
the white. The hind-quarters are lighter and lower than the fore,
falling suddenly from the termination of the dorsal ridge; the skin
of the neck, shoulders, and thigh is very thick, being about two
inches and more.
"The cow differs from the bull in having a slighter and more graceful
head, a slender neck, no hump; and the points of the horns do not
turn towards each other at the tip, but bend slightly backwards, and
they are much smaller; the legs too are of a purer white. The very
young bull has the forehead narrower than the cow, and the bony
frontal ridge scarcely perceptible. The horns too turn more upwards.
In old individuals the hair on the upper parts is often worn off.
The skin of the under parts when uncovered is deep
ochrey-yellow."--'Mammals of India,' p. 302.
[Footnote 40: The true bison has fourteen pairs of ribs.--R. A. S.]
The fineness of the leg below the knee is another noticeable feature,
and also the well-formed pointed hoof, which leaves an imprint like
that of a large deer. Mr. Sanderson states in his book that the bison,
after a sharp hunt, gives out an oily sweat, and in this peculiarity
he says it differs from domestic cattle, which never sweat under any
exertion. This I have not noticed.
The period of gestation seems to be about the same as that of the
domestic cow, and the greatest number of calves are born in the
summer.
SIZE.--I cannot speak personally, for I regret now that I took no
measurements in the days when I was acquainted with these magnificent
animals, but the experiences of others I give as follows:--
Sir Walter Elliot gives--
Ft. In.
Nose to root of tail 9 6-1/2
Height at shoulder (over 18 hands!) 6 1-1/2
" at rump 5 3
Tail 2 10-1/2
Length of dorsal ridge 3 4
Height of " 0 4-1/2
Head from muzzle to top of frontal ridge 2 1-3/4
Breadth of forehead 1 3-1/2
Ear 0 10-1/2
Circumference of horn at base 1 7-1/2
Distance between the points of the horns 2 1
I give the measurements of two fine heads:--
Ft. In. Ft. In.
From tip to tip round the outer edge and
across the forehead 6 2 6 11
Across the sweep 2 9 3 2-1/2
Circumference at base 1 7 1 5
Between tips 1 7 1 10-1/2
The following careful measurements are recorded by Mr. Blyth ('J.
A. S. B.,' vol. xi., 1842, p. 588), and were furnished to him by Lieut.
Tickell from the recently-killed animal, in order to assist in the
setting up of the specimen in the Asiatic Museum:--
Ft. In.
A string passed along the back to root of tail 8 8-1/2
From frontal ridge to tip of muzzle 2 0
Horns apart anteriorly at base 1 0-1/2
Tip to tip of horns 2 3-1/4
From nose to centre of eye 1 0-3/4
Eye to root of horn 0 4-1/4
Eye to base of ears 0 6
Humerus, &c. 1 11-1/4
Radius 2 8
Metacarpus 0 9-3/4
Pastern, &c., and hoof 0 7-1/4
Pelvis 1 4-1/2
Femur 1 7-1/4
Tibia and fibula 1 10
Metatarsus 1 4
Pastern to end of hoof 0 7-1/2
Height perpendicularly, about 5 9
Length of dorsal ridge 2 5-1/2
Tail, root to tip of hairs 3 1-3/4
Circumference of head behind horns 3 11
" " neck behind ears 4 0-1/2
" " chest 8 8
" " muzzle 1 9-1/4
" " forearm close to axilla 1 11-1/4
" " thigh close to body 3 0-3/4
" " thigh close above hock 1 6
I feel tempted to let my pen run away with me into descriptions of
the exciting scenes of the past in the chase of this splendid
creature--the noblest quarry that the sportsman can have, and the
one that calls forth all his cunning and endurance. As I lately
remarked in another publication, I know of no other animal of which
the quest calls forth the combined characteristics of the ibex, the
stag and the tiger-hunter. Some of my own experiences I have
described in 'Seonee;' but let those who wish to learn the poetry
of the thing read the glowing, yet not less true pages of Colonel
Walter Campbell's 'Old Forest Ranger;' and for clear practical
information, combined also with graphic description, the works of
Captain J. Forsyth and Mr. G. P. Sanderson ('The Highlands of Central
India' and 'Thirteen years among the Wild Beasts').
The gaur prefers hilly ground, though it is sometimes found on low
levels. It is extremely shy and retiring in its habits, and so quick
of hearing that extreme care has to be taken in stalking to avoid
treading on a dry leaf or stick. I know to my cost that the labour
of hours may be thrown away by a moment of impatience. In spite of
all the wondrous tales of its ferocity, it is as a rule a timid,
inoffensive animal. Solitary bulls are sometimes dangerous if
suddenly come upon. I once did so, and the bull turned and dashed
up-hill before I could get a shot, whereas a friend of mine, to whom
a similar thing occurred a few weeks before, was suddenly charged,
and his gun-bearer was knocked over. The gaur seldom leaves its
jungles, but I have known it do so on the borders of the Sonawani
forest, in order to visit a small tank at Untra near Ashta, and the
cultivation in the vicinity suffered accordingly.
Hitherto most attempts to rear this animal when young have failed.
It is said not to live over the third year. Though I offered rewards
for calves for my collection, I never succeeded in getting one. I
have successfully reared most of the wild animals of the Central
provinces, but had not a chance of trying the bison.
NO. 465. GAVAEUS FRONTALIS.
_The Mithun or Gayal_.
NATIVE NAMES.--_Gayal_, _Gavi_ or _Gabi_, _Gabi-bichal_ (male),
_Gabi-gai_ (female); _Bunerea-goru_ in Chittagong and Assam;
_Mithun_.
HABITAT.--The hilly tracts east of the Brahmaputra, at the head of
the Assam valley, the Mishmi hills, in hill Tipperah, Chittagong,
and then southwards through Burmah to the hills bordering on the
Koladyne river.
[Illustration: _Gavaeus frontalis_.]
DESCRIPTION.--Very like the gaur at first sight, but more clumsy
looking; similarly coloured, but with a small dewlap; the legs are
white as in the last species. In the skull the forehead is not concave
as in the gaur, but flat, and if anything rather convex. The back
has a dorsal ridge similar to that of the gaur.
The _gayal_ is of a much milder disposition than the _gaur_, and is
extensively domesticated, and on the frontiers of Assam is
considered a valuable property by the people. The milk is rich and
the flesh good. There are purely domesticated _mithuns_ bred in
captivity, but according to many writers the herds are recruited from
the wild animals, which are tempted either to interbreed, or are
captured and tamed. In Dr. F. Buchanan Hamilton's MS. (_see_
Horsfield's 'Cat. Mammalia, E. I. C. Mus.') the following account
is given: "These people (i.e. the inhabitants of the frontiers) have
tame gayals, which occasionally breed, but the greater part of their
stock is bred in the woods and caught; after which, being a mild
animal, it is easily domesticated. The usual manner employed to catch
the full-grown gayal is to surround a field of corn with a strong
fence. One narrow entrance is left, in which is placed a rope with
a running noose, which secures the gayal by the neck as he enters
to eat the corn; of ten so caught perhaps three are hanged by the
noose running too tight, and by the violence of their struggling.
Young gayals are caught by leaving in the fence holes of a size
sufficient to admit a calf, but which excludes the full-grown gayal;
the calves enter by these holes, which are then shut by natives who
are watching, and who secure the calves. The gayal usually goes in
herds of from twenty to forty, and frequents dry valleys and the sides
of hills covered with forest." Professor Garrod, in his _Ungulata_
in Cassell's Natural History, quotes the following account from Mr.
Macrae concerning the way in which the Kookies of the Chittagong hill
regions catch the wild gayal: "On discovering a herd of wild gayals
in the jungle they prepare a number of balls, the size of a man's
head, composed of a particular kind of earth, salt and cotton. They
then drive their tame gayals towards the wild ones, when the two herds
soon meet and assimilate into one, the males of the one attaching
themselves to the females of the other, and _vice versa_. The Kookies
now scatter their balls over such parts of the jungles as they think
the herd most likely to pass, and watch its motions. The gayals, on
meeting these balls as they pass along, are attracted by their
appearance and smell, and begin to lick them with their tongues, and,
relishing the taste of the salt and the particular earth composing
them, they never quit the place till all the balls are consumed. The
Kookies, having observed the gayals to have once tasted their balls,
prepare a sufficient supply of them to answer the intended purpose,
and as the gayals lick them up they throw down more; and it is to
prevent their being so readily destroyed that the cotton is mixed
with the earth and the salt. This process generally goes on for three
changes of the moon or for a month and a-half, during which time the
tame and the wild gayals are always together, licking the decoy balls,
and the Kookie, after the first day or two of their being so, makes
his appearance at such a distance as not to alarm the wild ones. By
degrees he approaches nearer and nearer, until at length the sight
of him has become so familiar that he can advance to stroke his tame
gayals on the back and neck without frightening the wild ones. He
next extends his hand to them and caresses them also, at the same
time giving them plenty of his decoy balls to lick. Thus, in the short
space of time mentioned, he is able to drive them, along with the
tame ones, to his _parrah_ or village, without the least exertion
of force; and so attached do the gayals become to the _parrah_, that
when the Kookies migrate from one place to another, they always find
it necessary to set fire to the huts they are about to abandon, lest
the gayals should return to them from the new grounds."
NO. 466. GAVAEUS SONDAICUS.
_The Burmese Wild Ox_.
NATIVE NAME.--_Tsoing_, Burmese; _Banteng_ of the Javanese.
HABITAT.--"Pegu, the Tenasserim provinces, and the Malayan
peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java; being domesticated in the
island of Bali" (_Blyth_).
DESCRIPTION.--This animal resembles the gaur in many respects, and
it is destitute of a dewlap, but the young and the females are bright
chestnut. The bulls become black with age, excepting always the white
stockings and a white patch on each buttock.
SIZE.--About the same as the last two species.
This animal has bred in captivity, and has also interbred with
domestic cattle. Blyth says he saw in the Zoological Gardens of
Amsterdam a bull, cow, and calf in fine condition. "The bull more
especially has an indication of a hump, which, however, must be
specially looked for to be noticed, and he has a broad and massive
neck like the gaur, but no raised spinal ridge, nor has either of
these species a deep dewlap like the gayal" ('Cat. Mamm. Burmah').
The banteng cow is much slighter in build, and has small horns that
incline backwards, and she retains her bright chestnut colour
permanently.
_GENUS POEPHAGUS--THE YAK_.
Somewhat smaller than the common ox, with large head; nose hairy,
with a moderate sized bald muffle between nostrils; broad neck
without dewlap; cylindrical horns; no hump or dorsal ridge, and long
hair on certain parts of the body. Requires an intensely cold
climate.
NO. 467. POEPHAGUS GRUNNIENS.
_The Yak or Grunting Ox_.
NATIVE NAMES.--_Yak_, _Bubul_, _Soora-goy_, _Dong_, in Thibet;
_Bun-chowr_, Hindi; _Brong-dong_, Thibetan.
HABITAT.--The high regions of Thibet and Ladakh, the valley of the
Chang Chenmo, and the slopes of the Kara Koram mountains (_Kinloch_).
DESCRIPTION.--"In size it is somewhat less than the common or
domestic ox. The head is large, and the neck proportionally broad,
without any mane or dewlap, having a downward tendency; the horns
are far apart, placed in front of the occipital ridge, cylindrical
at the base, from which they rise obliquely outward and forward
two-thirds of their length, when they bend inward with a
semi-circular curve, the points being directed to each other from
the opposite sides; the muffle is small; the border of the nostrils
callous; the ears short and hairy. At the withers there is a slight
elevation, but no protuberance or hump, as in the Indian ox. The
dorsal ridge not prominent; body of full dimensions; rump and hinder
parts proportionally large; limbs rather small and slender; hoofs
smooth, square, and well defined, not expanded as in the musk-ox;
anterior false hoofs small, posterior large; tail short, not
reaching beyond the houghs, naked for some inches at the root, very
bushy, lax, and expanded in the middle; colour black throughout, but
varying in tint according to the character of the hairy covering;
this, on the anterior parts, the neck, shoulders, back, and sides,
is short, soft, and of a jet-black colour, but long, shaggy,
pendulous, and shining on the sides of the anterior extremities, and
from the medial part of the abdomen over the thighs to the hinder
parts" (_Horsfield_, 'Cat. Mam. Ind. Mus.').
_GENUS BUBALUS--THE BUFFALOS_.
Horns very large, depressed and sub-trigonal at the base, attached
to the highest line of the frontals, inclining upwards and backwards,
conical towards the tip and bending upwards; muffle large, square.
No hump or dorsal ridge; thirteen pairs of ribs; hoofs large.
NO. 468. BUBALUS ARNI.
_The Wild Buffalo_ (_Jerdon's No. 239_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Arna_ (male), _Arni_ (female), _Arna-bhainsa_,
_Jangli-bhains_, Hindi; _Mung_, Bhagulpore; _Gera-erumi_, Gondi;
_Karbo_ of the Malays; _Moonding_ of the Sundanese.
HABITAT.--In the swampy terai at the foot of the hills from Oude to
Bhotan, in the plains of Lower Bengal as far west as Tirhoot, in Assam
and in Burmah, in Central India from Midnapore to Rajpore, and thence
nearly to the Godavery; also in Ceylon.
[Illustration: _Bubalus arni_.]
DESCRIPTION.--This animal so closely resembles the common
domesticated buffalo that it seems hardly necessary to attempt a
description. The wild one may be a trifle larger, but every one in
India is familiar with the huge, ungainly, stupid-looking creature,
with its bulky frame, black and almost hairless body, back-sweeping
horns, and long narrow head.
SIZE.--A large male will stand 19 hands at the shoulder and measure
10-1/4 feet from nose to root of tail, which is short, reaching only
to the hocks. Horns vary greatly, but the following are measurements
of large pairs: In the British Museum are a pair without the skull.
These horns measure 6 feet 6 inches each, which would give, when on
the head, an outer curve measurement of nearly 14 feet. Another pair
in the British Museum measure on the skull 12 feet 2 inches from tip
to tip and across the forehead, but these horns do not exactly
correspond in length and shape.
The buffalo never ascends mountains like the bison, but keeps to low
and swampy ground and open grass plains, living in large herds, which
occasionally split up into smaller ones during the breeding season
in autumn. The female produces one, or sometimes two in the summer,
after a period of gestation of ten months.
Forsyth doubts their interbreeding with the domestic race, but I see
no reason for this. The two are identically the same, and numerous
instances have been known of the latter joining herds of their wild
brethren; and I have known cases of the domestic animal absconding
from a herd and running wild. Such a one was shot by a friend of mine
in a jungle many miles from the haunts of men, but yet quite out of
the range of the wild animal. Probably it had been driven from a herd.
Domestic buffalo bulls are much used in the Central provinces for
carrying purposes. I had them yearly whilst in camp, and noticed that
one old bull lorded it over the others, who stood in great awe of
him; at last one day there was a great uproar; three younger animals
combined, and gave him such a thrashing that he never held up his
head again. In a feral state he would doubtless have left the herd
and become a solitary wanderer. Dr. Jerdon, in his 'Mammals of
India,' says: "Mr. Blyth states it as his opinion that, except in
the valley of the Ganges and Burrampooter, it has been introduced
and become feral. With this view I cannot agree, and had Mr. Blyth
seen the huge buffalos I saw on the Indrawutty river (in 1857), he
would, I think, have changed his opinion. They have hitherto not been
recorded, south of Raepore, but where I saw them is nearly 200 miles
south. I doubt if they cross the Godavery river.
"I have seen them repeatedly, and killed several in the Purneah
district. Here they frequent the immense tracts of long grass
abounding in dense, swampy thickets, bristling with canes and wild
roses; and in these spots, or in the long elephant-grass on the bank
of jheels, the buffalos lie during the heat of the day. They feed
chiefly at night or early in the morning, often making sad havoc in
the fields, and retire in general before the sun is high. They are
by no means shy (unless they have been much hunted), and even on an
elephant, without which they could not be successfully hunted, may
often be approached within good shooting distance. A wounded one will
occasionally charge the elephant, and, as I have heard from many
sportsmen, will sometimes overthrow the elephant. I have been
charged by a small herd, but a shot or two as they are advancing will
usually scatter them."
The buffalo is, I should say, a courageous animal--at least it shows
itself so in the domesticated state. A number of them together will
not hesitate to charge a tiger, for which purpose they are often used
to drive a wounded tiger out of cover. A herdsman was once seized
by a man-eater one afternoon a few hundred yards from my tent. His
cows fled, but his buffalos, hearing his cries, rushed up and saved
him.
The attachment evinced by these uncouth creatures to their keepers
was once strongly brought to my notice in the Mutiny. In beating up
the broken forces of a rebel Thakoor, whom we had defeated the
previous day, I, with a few troopers, ran some of them to bay in a
rocky ravine. Amongst them was a Brahmin who had a buffalo cow. This
creature followed her master, who was with us as a prisoner, for the
whole day, keeping at a distance from the troops, but within call
of her owner's voice. When we made a short halt in the afternoon,
the man offered to give us some milk; she came to his call at once,
and we had a grateful draught, the more welcome as we had had nothing
to eat since the previous night. That buffalo saved her master's life,
for when in the evening the prisoners were brought up to court martial
and sentenced to be hanged, extenuating circumstances were urged for
our friend with the buffalo, and he was allowed to go, as I could
testify he had not been found with arms in his hands; and I had the
greatest pleasure in telling him to be off, and have nothing more
to do with rebel Thakoors. Jerdon says the milk of the buffalo is
richer than that of the cow. I doubt this. I know that in rearing
wild animals buffalos' milk is better than cows' milk, which is far
too rich, and requires plentiful dilution with water.
There is a very curious little animal allied to the buffalo, of which
we have, or have had, a specimen in the Zoological Gardens at
Alipore--the _Anoa depressicornis_; it comes from the Island of
Celebes, and seems to link the buffalo with the deer. It is black,
with short wavy hair.
* * * * *
Before passing on to the true Cervidae I must here place an animal
commonly called a deer, and generally classed as such--the musk-deer
according to some naturalists. There is no reason, save an
insufficient one, that this creature should be so called and classed,
there being much evidence in favour of its alliance to the antelopes.
In the first place it has a gall bladder, which the Cervidae have
not, with the exception, according to Dr. Crisp, of the axis ('P.
Z. S.'). On the other hand it has large canine tusks like the muntjacs,
deerlets, and water-deer, and, as these are all aberrant forms of
the true Cervidae, there is no reason why the same character should
not be developed in the antelopes. Its hair is more of the goat than
the deer, and the total absence of horns removes a decided proof in
favour of one or the other. The feet are more like some of the Bovidae
than the generality of deer, with the exception, perhaps, of
_Rangifer_ (the reindeer), the toes being very much cloven and
capable of grasping the rocky ground on which it is found. A very
eminent authority, however, Professor Flower, is in favour of
placing the musk-deer with the Cervidae, and he instances the absence
of horns as in favour of this opinion, for in none of the Bovidae
are the males hornless. There are many other points also, such as
the fawns being spotted, some intestinal peculiarities, and the
molar and premolar teeth being strictly cervine, which strengthen
him in his opinion. (_See_ article on the structure and affinities
of the musk-deer, 'P. Z. S.' 1879, p. 159.)
[Illustration: Skull of Musk Deer.]
_GENUS MOSCHUS--THE MUSK DEER_.
Canines in both sexes, very long and slender in the male; no horns;
feet much cloven, with large false hoofs that touch the ground; the
medium metacarpals fused into a solid cannon bone; in the skull the
intermaxillaries join the nasals; hinder part of tarsus hairy; fur
thick, elastic, and brittle; muffle large; no eye, feet, or
groin-pits; a large gland or praeputial bag under the stomach in the
males, which contains the secretion known in commerce as "musk."
NO. 469. MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS.
_The Musk Deer_.
NATIVE NAMES.--_Kastura_, Hindi; _Rous_, _Roos_, and _Kasture_, in
Kashmir; _La-lawa_, Thibetan; _Rib-jo_, Ladakhi; _Bena_ in Kunawur
(_Jerdon_); _Mussuck-naba'_, Pahari (_Kinloch_).
HABITAT.--Throughout the Himalayas at elevations above 8000 feet,
extending also through Central and Northern Asia as far as Siberia.
[Illustration: _Moschus moschiferus_.]
[Illustration: _Moschus moschiferus_.]
DESCRIPTION.--It is difficult to describe the colour of this animal,
for it so constantly changes; and, as I do not know the creature
personally, I think it better to give the recorded opinions of three
writers who have had personal experience. Markham describes it as
a dark speckled brownish-grey, nearly black on the hind-quarters,
edged down the inside with reddish-yellow; the throat, belly, and
legs lighter grey. Leith Adams ('P. Z. S.' 1858, p. 528) says: "Some
are very dark on the upper parts, with black splashes on the back
and hips; under-parts white or a dirty white. Others are of a
yellowish-white all over the upper parts, with the belly and inner
sides of the thighs white. A brownish-black variety is common, with
a few white spots arranged longitudinally on the back--the latter
I found were young." Kinloch writes: "The prevailing colour is
brownish-grey, varying in shade on the back, where it is darkest,
so as to give the animal a mottled or brindled appearance."
SIZE.--Length, about 3 feet; height, 22 inches.
The musk-deer is a forest-loving animal, keeping much to one locality.
It bounds with amazing agility over the steepest ground, and is
wonderfully sure-footed over the most rocky hills. It ruts in winter,
produces one or two young, which are driven off in about six weeks'
time by the mother to shift for themselves. They begin to produce
at an early age--within a year. The musk bag is an abdominal or
praeputial gland which secretes about an ounce of musk, worth from
ten to fifteen rupees. It is most full in the rutting season; in the
summer, according to Leith Adams, it hardly contains any. The musk
does not seem to affect the flavour of the meat, which is considered
excellent.
CERVIDAE--THE DEER.
Of the horned ruminants these are the most interesting. In all parts
of the world, Old and New, save the great continental island of
Australia, one or other kind of stag is familiar to the people, and
is the object of the chase. The oldest writings contain allusions
to it, and it is frequently mentioned in the Scriptures.
"Like as the hart desireth the water brooks,"
sang David. It is bound up in history and romance, and the chase of
it in England is to this day a royal pastime.
However, to come back from the poetry of the thing to dry scientific
details, I must premise that the two main distinctions of the
Cervidae, as separating them from the Bovidae, are horns which are
not persistent, but annually shed, and the absence of a gall bladder,
which is present in nearly all the Bovidae. The deer also, with one
exception (the reindeer, _Rangifer tarandus_) have horns only in the
males.
Regarding the shedding of these horns, it is supposed that the
operation is connected with the sexual functions. It is a curious
fact that castration has a powerful effect on this operation; if done
early no horns appear; if later in life, the horns become persistent
and are not shed.
Captain James Forsyth (in his 'Highlands of Central India'), was of
opinion that the Sambar does not shed its horns annually, and states
that this also is the opinion of native shikaris in Central India.
This, however, requires further investigation. I certainly never
heard of such a theory amongst them, nor noticed the departure from
the normal state.
There have been several classifications of the Cervidae, but I think
the most complete and desirable one is that of Sir Victor Brooke
(_see_ 'P. Z. S.' 1878, p. 883), which I shall endeavour to give in
a condensed form. Dr. Gray's classification was based on three forms
of antlers and the shape of the tail. But Sir Victor Brooke's is
founded on more reliable osteological details. As I before stated
in my introductory remarks on the Ruminantia, the first and fourth
digits, there being no thumb, are but rudimentary, the metacarpal
bones being reduced to mere splints; the digital phalanges are always
in the same place, and bear the little false hoofs, which are situated
behind and a little above the large centre ones, but the metacarpal
splint is not always in the same place; it may either be annexed to
the phalanges, or widely separated from them and placed directly
under the carpus. The position of these splints is an important
factor in the classification of the Cervidae into two divisions,
distinguished by Sir Victor Brooke as the _Plesiometacarpals_, in
which the splint is near the carpus, and the _Telemetacarpals_, in
which the splint is far from the carpus, and articulated with the
digital phalanges. All the known species of deer can be classified
under these two heads; and it is a significant fact that this pedal
division is borne out by certain cranial peculiarities discovered
by Professor Garrod, and also, to a certain extent, by an arrangement
of hair-tufts on the tarsus and metatarsus. In the Old World deer,
which are with few exceptions _Plesiometacarpi_, those which have
these tufts have them above the middle of the metatarsus, and those
of the New World, which are, with one exception, _Telemetacarpi_,
have them, when present, below the middle of the metatarsus.
There is also another character in addition to the cranial one before
alluded to, which was also noticed by Professor Garrod. The first
cranial peculiarity is that in _Telemetacarpi_, as a rule, the
vertical plate developed from the lower surface of the vomer is
prolonged sufficiently downwards and backwards to become anchylosed
to the horizontal plate of the palatals, forming a septum completely
dividing the nasal cavity into two chambers. In the _Plesiometacarpi_
this vertical plate is not sufficiently developed to reach the
horizontal plate of the palatals. The second cranial peculiarity is
that in the Old World deer (_Plesiometacarpi_), the ascending rami of
the premaxillae articulate with the nasals with one or two
exceptions, whereas in the New World deer (_Telemetacarpi_), with one
or two exceptions, the rami of the premaxillae do not reach the
nasals. It will thus be seen that the osteological characters of the
head and feet agree in a singularly fortunate manner, and, when taken
in connection with the external signs afforded by the metatarsal
tufts, prove conclusively the value of the system. In India we have
to deal exclusively with the _Plesiometacarpi_, our nearest members
of the other division being the Chinese water-deer (_Hydropotes
inermis_), and probably _Capreolus pygargus_ from Yarkand, the horns
of a roebuck in velvet attached to a strip of skin having been
brought down by the Mission to that country in 1873-74.
Now comes the more difficult task of subdividing these sections into
genera--a subject which has taxed the powers of many naturalists,
and which is still in a far from perfect state. To all proposed
arrangements some exception can be taken, and the following system
is not free from objection, but it is on the whole the most reliable;
and this system is founded on the form of the antler, which runs from
a single spike, as in the South American _Coassus_, to the many
branches of the red deer (_Cervus elaphas_); and all the various
changes on which we found genera are in successive stages produced
in the red deer, which we may accept as the highest development; for
instance, the stag in its first year develops but a single straight
"beam" antler, when it is called a "brocket," and it is the same as
the South American brocket (_Coassus_). On this being shed the next
spring produces a small branch from the base of this beam, called
the brow antler, which is identical almost with the single bifurcated
horn of the _Furcifer_ from Chili. The stag is then technically known
as a "spayad." In the third year an extra front branch is formed,
known as the tres-tine. The antler then resembles the rusine type,
of which our sambar stag is an example. In the fourth year the top
of the main beam throws out several small tines called "sur-royals,"
and the brow antler receives an addition higher up called the
"bez-tine." The animal is then a "staggard." In the fifth year the
"sur-royals" become more numerous, and the whole antler heavier in
the "stag," whose next promotion is to that of "great hart" of ten
or more points. The finest heads are found in the German forests.
Sir Victor Brooke alludes to some in the hunting Schloss of
Moritzburg of the 15th to 17th century, of enormous size, bearing
from 25 to 50 points--50 inches round the outside curve, 10 inches
in circumference round the _smallest_ part of the beam, and of one
of which the spread between the coronal tines is 74 inches. Professor
Garrod mentions one as having sixty-six points, and states that Lord
Powerscourt has in his possession a pair with forty-five tines. The
deer with which we have to deal range from the elaphine, or red deer
type, to the simple bifurcated antler of the muntjac, which consists
of a beam and brow antler only. We then come to the rusine type of
three points only--brow, tres, and royal tines, and of this number
are also the spotted and hog deer of India, but the arrangement of
the tines is different; and following the rusine type comes the
rucervine, in which the tres and royal tines break out into
points--the tres-tine usually bifurcate, and the royal with two,
three or more points. The arrangements of the main limbs of the horns
is strictly rusine--that is to say, the external and anterior tine
is equal to or shorter than the royal tine, whereas it is the reverse
in the axis (spotted deer), and therefore this genus should come
between the two. Even in the sambar and axis there is a tendency to
throw out abnormal tines. There are many examples in the Indian
Museum, and I possess a magnificent head which bears a large abnormal
tine on one horn, and a faint inclination in the corresponding spot
on the other horn to do likewise. I have no doubt, had the animal
lived another year, the second extra tine would have been developed.
Professor Garrod has three phases of the rucervine type, which he
calls the normal, the intermediate, and the extreme. The first has
both branches of the beam, tres and royal of equal size (_ex_.
Schomburgk's deer); the second has the tres-tine larger than the
royal (_ex_. our swamp deer); and the extreme type is that in which
the royal is represented merely by a snag, the whole horn being bent
forward (_ex_. the Burmese _Panolia Eldii_). The true cervine type
of horn I have already described in its progress from youth to age.
The Kashmir and Sikim stags are the representatives of this form in
India. In Japan there is an intermediate form in _Cervus sika_ which
has no bez-tine.
[Illustration: Stag with Horns matured.]
Deer have large eye-pits, but no groin-pits; feet-pits in all four,
or sometimes only in the hind feet. The female has four mammae.
[Illustration: Stag with Horns in velvet.]
At the time of reproduction of the antlers a strong determination
of blood to the head takes place, enlarging the vessels, and a
fibro-cartilaginous substance is formed, which grows rapidly, and
takes the form of the antler of the species. The horns in their early
stage are soft and full of blood-vessels on the surface, covered with
a delicate skin, with fine close-set hairs commonly called the
velvet.
"As the horns ossify the periosteal veins become enlarged, grooving
the external surface; the arteries are enclosed by hard osseus
tubercles at the base of the horns, which coalesce and render them
impervious, and, the supply of nutriment being thus cut off, the
envelopes shrivel up and fall off, and the animals perfect the
desquamation by rubbing their horns against trees, technically
called 'burnishing.'"--_Jerdon_.
* * * * *
We now begin with the simplest form of tine we have, viz. with one
basal snag only.
_GENUS CERVULUS--THE MUNTJACS OR RIB-FACED DEER_.
Of small size, slightly higher at the croup than at the shoulders;
short tail; large pits in hind feet; no groin-pits; no tuft on the
metatarsus. This genus is specially characterised, according to Sir
Victor Brooke, by the absence of the lateral digital phalanges on
all four feet; the proximal ends of the metacarpals are however
present; horns situated on high pedicles of bone, covered with hair,
continued down the face in two longitudinal ridges, between which
the skin is ridged or puckered; horns small, composed of a single
beam with a basal snag; skull with a very large, deep sub-orbital
pit; forehead concave; large canine tusks in the upper jaw; moderate,
moist muffle.
NO. 470. CERVULUS MUNTJAC _vel_ AUREUS.
_The Muntjac or Rib-faced Deer_ (_Jerdon's No. 223_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Kakur_, _Bherki_, _Jangli-bakra_, Hindi; _Maya_
Bengali; _Ratwa_, in Nepal; _Karsiar_, Bhotia; _Siku_ or _Suku_,
Lepcha; _Gutra_, _Gutri_, Gondi; _Bekra_ or _Baikur_, Mahrathi;
_Kankuri_, Canarese; _Kuka-gori_, Telegu; _Gee_, Burmese; _Kidang_,
Javanese; _Muntjac_, Sundanese; _Kijang_, Malayan of Sumatra;
_Welly_ or _Hoola-mooha_, Singhalese.
HABITAT.--India, Burmah, Ceylon, the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java,
Hainan, Banka and Borneo.
[Illustration: _Cervulus aureus_.]
DESCRIPTION.--Between the facial ridges the creases are dark brown,
with a dark line running up the inside of each frontal pedestal; all
the rest of the head and upper parts a bright rufous bay; chin, throat,
inside of hind-legs, and beneath tail, white; some white spots in
front of the fetlocks of all four legs; fore-legs from the shoulder
downwards, the legs under the tarsal joints, and a line in front of
hind-legs, dark blackish-brown. The doe is a little smaller, and has
little black bristly knobs where the horns of the buck are.
SIZE.--Head and body, about 3-1/2 feet; tail, 7 inches; height, 26
to 28 inches. Jerdon gives the size of the horn 8 to 10 inches, but
in this he doubtless included the pedicle, which is about 5 inches,
and the horns, from 2 to 5 inches. Of the only specimen I have at
present in my collection the posterior measurement from cranium to
tip of horn is 6-1/2 inches, of which the bony pedicle is 3 inches.
It is a question whether we should separate the Indian from the
Malayan animal. The leading authority of the day on the Cervidae,
Sir Victor Brooke, was of opinion some time back (_see_ 'P. Z. S.,'
1874, p. 38), that the species were identical. He says: "In a large
collection of the skins, skulls, and horns of this species, which
I have received from all parts of India and Burmah, and in a
considerable number of living specimens which I have examined, I have
observed amongst adult animals so much difference in size and
intensity of coloration that I have found it impossible to retain
the muntjac of Java and Sumatra as a distinct species. The muntjacs
from the south of India are, as a rule, smaller than those from the
north, as is also the case with the axis and Indian antelope. But
even this rule is subject to many exceptions. I have received from
Northern India perfectly adult, and even slightly aged, specimens
of both muntjac and axis inferior in size to the average as presented
by these species in Southern India. These small races are always
connected with particular areas, and are doubtless the result of
conditions sufficiently unfavourable to prevent the species
reaching the full luxuriance of growth and beauty of which it is
capable, though not sufficiently rigorous to prevent its existence."
In a later article on the Cervidae, written four years afterwards,
he seems, however, to qualify his opinion in the following words:
"This species appears to attain a larger size in Java, Sumatra, and
Borneo than it does on the mainland; and I think it not improbable
that persistent race characters may eventually be found
distinguishing the muntjac of these islands from that of British
India."
The rib-face is a retiring little animal, and is generally found
alone, or at times in pairs. Captain Baldwin mentions four having
been seen together at one time, and General McMaster mentions three;
but these are rare cases.
It is very subtle in its movements, carrying its head low, and
creeping, as Hodgson remarks, like a weasel under tangled thickets
and fallen timber. In captivity I have found it to be a coarse feeder,
and would eat meat of all kinds greedily.
Its canine teeth are very long and sharp, and have a certain amount
of play in the socket, but I am unable to state whether they are ever
used for any purpose, whether of utility or defence. Its call is a
hoarse, sharp bark, whence it takes its name of barking deer. What
Jerdon says about the length of its tongue is true; it can certainly
lick a good portion of its face with it.
For excellent detailed accounts of this little deer I must refer my
readers to Kinloch's 'Large Game Shooting,' and a letter by
"Hawkeye," quoted by McMaster's 'Notes on Jerdon.' My space here will
not allow of my quoting largely or giving personal experience, but
both the above articles, as well as Captain Baldwin's notice, nearly
exhaust the literature on this subject in a popular way.
* * * * *
The next development of antler is the rusine type, in which the main
beam divides at the top into two branches, making with the basal tine
a horn of three points only.
_GENUS RUSA--THE RUSINE DEER_.
Antlers with a brow tine, the beam bifurcating into a tres and royal
tine; muffle large; lachrymal fossa large and deep; ante-orbital
vacuity very large; rudimentary canines in both sexes, except in the
hog deer; tail of moderate length; no feet-pits. The males heavily
maned.
NO. 471. RUSA ARISTOTELIS.
_The Sambar_ (_Jerdon's No. 220_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Sambar_ or _Samhar_, Hindi; _Jerai_ and _Jerao_ in
the Himalayas; _Maha_ in the Terai; _Meru_, Mahrathi; _Ma-oo_,
Gondi; _Kadavi_ or _Kadaba_, Canarese; _Kannadi_, Telegu; _Ghous_
or _Gaoj_, Eastern Bengal, the female _Bholongi_ (_Jerdon_); _Schap_,
Burmese (_Blyth_); _Gona-rusa_, Singhalese (_Kellaart_).
HABITAT.--Throughout India from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin;
through Assam round to the east of the Bay of Bengal, down through
Burmah to the Malay peninsula; it is also found in Ceylon.
[Illustration: _Rusa Aristotelis_.]
DESCRIPTION.--The sambar stag is a grand animal, with fine erect
carriage, heavily maned neck, and with massive horns of the rusine
type. In size it is considerably larger than the red deer, and, though
its horns are not so elegant, it is in its _tout ensemble_ quite as
striking an animal. In colour it is dark brown, somewhat slaty in
summer; the chin, inside of limbs and tail, and a patch on the
buttocks yellowish or orange yellow. The head of the sambar is very
fine; the eye large and full, with immense eye-pits, which can be
almost reversed or greatly dilated during excitement. The ears are
large and bell-shaped, and the throat surrounded by a shaggy
mane--truly a noble creature. The female and young are lighter.
SIZE.--A large stag will stand 14 hands at the withers, the length
of the body being from 6 to 7 feet; tail about a foot; ears 7 to 8
inches. The average size of horns is about 3 feet, but some are
occasionally found over 40 inches. Jerdon says: "some are recorded
4 feet along the curvature; the basal antler 10 to 12 inches or more."
A very fine pair, with skull, in my own collection, which I value
much, show the following measurements: right horn, 45 inches; left
horn, 43 inches; brow antler from burr to tip, 18-1/4 inches
circumference; just above the burr, 9 inches; circumference half-way
up the beam, 7-1/4 inches. On the right horn underneath the tres-tine
is an abnormal snag 9 inches long. The left horn has an indication
of a similar branch, there being a small point, which I have no doubt
would have been more fully developed had the animal lived another
year.
I have had no experience of deer-shooting in the regions inhabited
by the Kashmir and Sikim stags, which are approximate to our English
red deer; but no sportsman need wish for a nobler quarry than a fine
male sambar.
As I write visions of the past rise before me--of dewy mornings ere
the sun was up; the fresh breeze at daybreak, and the waking cry of
the koel and peacock, or the call of the painted partridge; then,
as we move cautiously through the jungle that skirts the foot of the
rocky range of hills, how the heart bounds when, stepping behind a
sheltering bush, we watch the noble stag coming leisurely up the
slope! How grand he looks!--with his proud carriage and shaggy,
massive neck, sauntering slowly up the rise, stopping now and then
to cull a berry, or to scratch his sides with his wide, sweeping
antlers, looming large and almost black through the morning mists,
which have deepened his dark brown hide, reminding one of Landseer's
picture of 'The Challenge.' Stalking sambar is by far the most
enjoyable and sportsmanlike way of killing them, but more are shot
in _battues_, or over water when they come down to drink. According
to native shikaris the sambar drinks only every third day, whereas
the nylgao drinks daily; and this tallies with my own experience--in
places where sambar were scarce I have found a better chance of
getting one over water when the footprints were about a couple of
days old. An exciting way of hunting this animal is practised by the
Bunjaras, or gipsies of Central India. They fairly run it to bay with
dogs, and then spear it. I have given in 'Seonee' a description of
the _modus operandi_.
When wounded or brought to bay the sambar is no ignoble foe; even
a female has an awkward way of rearing up and striking out with her
fore-feet. A large hind in my collection at Seonee once seriously
hurt the keeper in this manner.
Those who have read 'The Old Forest Ranger,' by Colonel Campbell,
have read in it one of the finest descriptions of the stalking of
this noble animal. I almost feel tempted to give it a place here;
but it must give way to an extract from a less widely known, though
as graphic a writer, "Hawkeye," whose letters to the _South of India
Observer_ deserve a wider circulation. I cannot find space for more
than a few paragraphs, but from them the reader may judge how
interesting the whole article is:--
"The hill-side we now are on rapidly falls towards the river below,
where it rushes over a precipice, forming a grand waterfall,
beautiful to behold. The hill-side is covered with a short, scrubby
rough-leafed plant, about a foot and a-half high. Bending low, we
circle round the shoulder of the slope, beyond the wood. The quick
eye of the stalker catches sight of a hind's ears, at the very spot
he hoped for. The stag must be nigh.
"Down on all-fours we move carefully along, the stalker keenly
watching the ears. A short distance gained, and the hind detects the
movement of our heads. At the same moment the upper tines of the
stag's antlers are in sight; he lies to the right of the hind, about
120 yards distant, hidden by an inequality of the ground. Be still,
oh beating heart! Be quiet, oh throbbing pulse! Steady, oh shaky hand,
or all your toil is vain! Onward, yet only a few paces! Be not alarmed,
oh cautious hind! We care not for you. Crouching still lower, we gain
ground; the head and neck of our noble quarry are in sight; the hind
still gazes intensely. Presently she elongates her neck in a most
marvellous manner. We still gain. On once more we move, when up starts
the hind. We know that in another moment she will give the warning
bell, and all will vanish. The time for action has arrived. We alter
our position in a second, bring the deadly weapon to bear on the stag;
quickly draw a steady bead, hugging the rifle with all our might,
and fire! The hinds flash across our vision like the figures in a
magic lantern, and the stag lies weltering in his couch."
_GENUS AXIS_.
Horns of the rusine type, but with the tres-tine longer than the royal
or posterior tine; beam much bent; horns paler and smoother than in
the sambar; large muffle and eye-pits; canines moderate; feet-pits
in the hind-feet only; also groin-pits; tail of moderate length; skin
spotted with white; said to possess a gall-bladder.
NO. 472. AXIS MACULATUS.
_The Spotted Deer_ (_Jerdon's No. 221_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Chital_, _Chitra_, _Chritri-jhank_ (the male),
Hindi; _Chatidah_ in Bhagulpore; _Boro-khotiya_, Bengali at
Rungpore; _Buriya_, in Gorukpore; _Saraga_, Canarese; _Dupi_,
Telegu; _Lupi_, Gondi (_Jerdon_); _Tic-mooha_, Singhalese
(_Kellaart_); _Sarga_, _Jati_, _Mikka_, Canarese (_Sanderson_).
HABITAT.--Throughout India, with the exception of the Punjab; nor
is it found, I believe, in the countries east of the Bay of Bengal.
It is however obtained in Ceylon, where it has been classed by
Kellaart as a distinct species, _A. oryzeus_.
[Illustration: _Axis maculatus_.]
DESCRIPTION.--General colour like that of the English fallow deer,
yellowish or rufous fawn, spotted with white; the spots on the sides
low down assuming an elongated shape, forming lines; a dark dorsal
stripe from nape to tail; head brownish, unspotted; muzzle dark; ears
dark externally, white within; chin, throat, and under-parts whitish,
as also the inside of limbs and tail; the horns frequently throw out
snags on the brow antler.
SIZE.--Length, 4-1/2 to 5 feet. Height at shoulder, 36 to 38 inches.
I regret I cannot give accurate measurements just now of horns, as
I am writing on board ship, with all my specimens and most of my books
boxed up, but I should say 30 inches an average good horn. Jerdon
does not give any details.
This deer is generally found in forests bordering streams. I have
never found it at any great distance from water; it is gregarious,
and is found in herds of thirty and forty in favourable localities.
Generally spotted deer and lovely scenery are found together, at all
events in Central India. The very name _chital_ recalls to me the
loveliest bits of the rivers of the Central provinces, the Nerbudda,
the Pench, the Bangunga, and the bright little Hirrie. Where the
bamboo bends over the water, and the _kouha_ and _saj_ make sunless
glades, there will be found the bonny dappled hides of the fairest
of India's deer. There is no more beautiful sight in creation than
a _chital_ stag in a sun-flecked dell when--
"Ere his fleet career he took
The dewdrops from his flanks he shook;
Like crested leader, proud and high,
Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky;
A moment gazed adown the dale,
A moment snuff'd the tainted gale,
A moment listen'd to the cry
That thicken'd as the chase drew nigh;
Then, as the headmost foes appeared,
With one brave bound the copse he clear'd."
Here I may fitly quote again from "Hawkeye," whose descriptions are
charming: "Imagine a forest glade, the graceful bamboo arching
overhead, forming a lovely vista, with here and there bright spots
and deep shadows--the effect of the sun's rays struggling to
penetrate the leafy roof of nature's aisle. Deep in the solitude of
the woods see now the dappled herd, and watch the handsome buck as
he roams here and there in the midst of his harem, or, browsing
amongst the bushes, exhibits his graceful antlers to the lurking foe,
who by patient woodcraft has succeeded in approaching his
unsuspecting victim; observe how proudly he holds himself, as some
other buck of less pretensions dares to approach the ladies of the
group; see how he advances, as on tiptoe, all the hair of his body
standing on end, and with a thundering rush drives headlong away this
bold intruder, and then comes swaggering back! But, hark--a twig has
broken! Suddenly the buck wheels round, facing the quarter whence
the sound proceeded. Look at him now, and say, is he not a quarry
well worth the hunter's notice?
"With head erect, antlers thrown back, his white throat exposed, his
tail raised, his whole body gathered together, prepared to bound away
into the deep forest in the twinkling of an eye, he stands a splendid
specimen of the cervine tribe. We will not kill him; we look and
admire! A doe suddenly gives that imperceptible signal to which I
have formerly alluded, and the next moment the whole herd has dashed
through the bamboo alleys, vanishing from sight--a dappled hide now
and again gleaming in the sunlight as its owner scampers away to more
distant haunts."
Jerdon is a follower of Hodgson, who was of opinion that there are
two species of spotted deer--a larger and smaller, the latter
inhabiting Southern India; but there is no reason for adopting this
theory; both Blyth, Gray, and others have ignored this, and the most
that can be conceded is that the southern animal is a variety owing
to climatic conditions. Multiplication of species is a thing to be
avoided of all naturalists--I have, therefore, not separated them.
McMaster too writes: "I cannot agree with Jerdon that there are two
species of spotted deer." And he had experience in Southern India
as well as in other parts. He states that the finest _chital_ he ever
came across were found in the forests in Goomsoor, where, he adds,
"as in every other part of Orissa, both spotted deer and sambar are,
I think, more than usually large."
NO. 473. AXIS PORCINUS.
_The Hog Deer_ (_Jerdon's No. 222_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Para_, Hindi; Jerdon also gives _Khar-laguna_,
Nepal Terai; _Sugoria_ also in some parts. _Nuthurini-haran_ in some
parts of Bengal; _Weel-mooha_, Singhalese (_Kellaart_).