Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 85

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 a.s.semble 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 generals.h.i.+p 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 gra.s.s, 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. x.x.xvi.), 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.

c.o.c.kburn, who, always ready to a.s.sist 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 p.r.o.ng removed. The chevron is highly arched, and the false hoofs are very large.

NO. 455. BUDORCAS TAXICOLOR.

_The Takin_.

NATIVE NAMES.--_Takin_ or _Takhon_, p.r.o.nounced nasally.

HABITAT.--The Mishmi hills, a.s.sam, Thibet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _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 s.e.xes; 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, p.r.o.nounced takhon (nasally), is found just outside British limits in the Mishmi and Akha hills, north of a.s.sam. 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. x.x.xvi., 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 relations.h.i.+p 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 s.p.a.ce between forming a dark triangular patch bordered with a deeper tint. Sir Victor Brooke cla.s.sifies the twenty or so known species as follows:--

I.--BACK UNSTRIPED.

Dent.i.tion:--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 s.e.xES 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 euch.o.r.e_.