weight of a wild
pounds.
bull yak has been estimated at between iio o and i
The followin g measurements of horns are given in Mr. Row!
Ward’s Records o f Big Game
Length on Basal Tip to Tip. Widest
Outer Curve. Circumference. _ • Inside.
3»i *7 ’ t9 3* i
35i H i Ml-
3+ 12 ' 20i jR n H
3^4 ifii H .
32 ! 3l H i 22 j
3t | H i I B J ?
31 H ? ■ ? •
3 ° t >3i ' IQi ?
29f 14 12 ; > 5i
29i J3i I I
M28 16 M |
The name Bos grunniens was doubtless given by Linmeus to the
domesticated breed'of yak, and Prezewalzki has proposed to designate
the wild race as B . mutus. I f the latter term were based at all, it should
be employed in a subspecific sense, but since many t i the-semi-domesticated
yak of Rupshu and some of the other high plateaux in Tibet are practically
indistinguishable, except in size, from the wild race, it appears unnecessary.
Whether the latter never gives vent to the grunting cry characteristic of
the domesticated breeds, I have no information.
Domesticated yak, which are always much smaller than their wild
cousins, with very inferior horns, vary much according to locality. In
Rupshu they are very large, and generally, i f not always,wf the uniform
colour of the wild race. They run half-wild for much of their time, and
are unable to live except at very high elevations. At lower levels in
various parts of Ladak and the Himalaya pied domestic breeds are
common ; and it is from the tails of these that the fly-whisks, or chowris,
used in India are made. Near Darjiling there exists a very small breed of
yak,ft>me individuals o f which are black, and others black and white. Of
this and other breeds living at comparatively low elevations there is a polled
form, which probablyjbieeps true. Domestic yak are freely crossed with
the ordinary Indian cattle. It is only, the comparatively lowland breeds of
W i ^ S adH B # ;Yak. From Darrah’s S p o rt in th e H ig h la n d s o f K a sh m ir.
yak which will stand the climate of India even for -a short time, and
it is ;sueh alone that RiC exhibited alive in Europe.
In the characters B g lh e skull, yak are to a considerable extent intermediate
between the taurine oxen and the true bisons. The comparative
length and n a r r o w n e sift of the forehead, as well as -its flatness, are taurine
characters, as is aljb'jthe want of prominence of the sockets of the eyes.
On the other hand, the&cipita|-,?regi|}J showj|| distinct approximation to
the bisons. In place, however, of the summit of the true occipital surface
being seen in a front view of the skull, as in the latter, only a small boss