great influence .among the herdsman. »The musk deer- too, which pro^
ducea valuable article of revenue, are in great abundance in the vicinity
of these fountains. .. This animal is observed to delight in the most
intense .cold, and is always found :in places bordering on snow. Two
long curved tusks;spr>qeeeding from the upper!jaw, ahd-directed downwards,
seem intended principally, to serve -him for the purposè óf*t$g3{
ging roots, which are said .tó;hsfhis usual food; yet it is jmssibl&l^i
m^y .also be weapons of offence.I Mr. Hastings had onee.in his possession
a beautiful deer, of a different species,, but armed with teeth of
the same construction and position, with which he wounded iêyfecy
other kind of efoerin the same inclosure with him ; rising on his; hind
legs, and striking downwards. He was smaller than a commonigeatt
yet had scored. deep gashes in the tough skin of a Ghouz, which is the
largest species of stag known in India.
I had a . great desire to send specimens of these animals into Bengal;
but I was discouraged by the reports I heard, that numerous attempts
had been already made in Tibet, to convey them alive to Mr. Hastings,
one of which.only had succeeded. I was moreover assured,»that, when
separated from its own climate, and its native wilds, the life of the
musk deer was always of short duration, and that it was, in fact, incapable
of being domesticated; or else its odour, for which it is now
persecuted, might probably be obtained, like that of the civet, without
the destruction of its l i f e . 3
They are about the height of a moderately sized hog, which they
resemble'much, in the figure of'the body; but they are still more'
.like the bog deer, so termed in Bengal,1 from the same similitude.-
They* &We a small' hdM^Mhifi'k-a'rS'round hind^quarter/nfiYcut/ and
extrem'dy-delfc&teMimte. Th'e'gE^^^singularity ilStihis animal, iS
the: sdi^of hair With whiefi it$s c^l)^^^ichrs^rddfg^00f%;e^pious^
ttttd grows (erdd^alb^er-the TO&^beiiwlOT|ivo’ ari3.£tm‘SB?1^*eFlohg‘,
sttfObth only where''it is ? snort?, u6m?fhe*%ead‘;f I'egs^’and'^ea-rsl
Up'on'‘ekafhinatiodyitcpaYtake^ in'-it&,tek'tiiW,> fess- ’dfi^tl^n'afufe dfhaif
daahfokhers;if&^ratK^fiVi^semblSstthe'pbFCU|)Me;s''><fful?'^\',‘t't-:(,tiL}ic)
s&leetifcej'it bwdnffillieaP^Tlfd
etblouf^al the base', is' whit#,did1 theijmiddlFfb&«l,%fid*,bl!Own'‘^t,‘'£he
Refill tS. The'"'musk’ls'a sfebtetlbtffbfmed in a S3i«m^girfd^tufn‘drp re-J
Sembling a'wen. situated at the navel p-and' ls'Idmithbril) iii’tliiddUler
■ The huhtsmen, who selfeit, by Weighr,Tiave-'ar-fo&de pf- adultdMfifig 'if
j»Olmetitod4'before “it % brought^t'o; market,;; Whi’chy I*am'-informed}Y
ddtectednby'examining the texturevbf&th® fousk; u If iK'ffo*bllbwft»a*hd
granulated^ there, is treason t» - sujlpns^Ji&sbphist^atedi^l bur if ’bhffekf
andthoinogeneous; divided int manytphr tW’by, a> thin cutab^f?it may bS>
relied upon as pure. They have.anblhcr moic cxpddttnoixs mode ot oScot?
tainiogvks quality, by running a kharpipoin^e!dt'&stitinientiibi\ne'ed'fe5t
through the musk. I am told? that1'fie.-methqd of, adutatfiting; it fs,vbyc
in]ecting,bleiod into it; while the bagdscfreshr; But.as'itbjelmusk deert is;
here deemed the&ptbperty of the states and- huntedDanljh-by. the. ]j&i>t
mission- of -govempuent, j#u^&drsesl a> great ftparty dfttte.’inusk passes;
thiough the lrands of its agents; apd all shat beais the Regent SAetiP
may.,>be looked, Upon.as genuine.
« The musk' deer, W ifit language ofTiWjiSCalfed L a ; and "the vascular Covering
of the musk, Latcha. ij;i