The Yatung Gorge enclosed by pine-clad hills, with a torrent rushing down between, might be expected to team with animal life; but, on the contrary, both mammals and birds are scarce. During five years, and the country has been well explored, no game animal has been seen, though in winter slot marks of some sort of deci Been noticed in the snow. - Small bends of perhaps of stragglers from Sikkim,
monkeys make incursions occasionally from the neighbouring country, Bhutan, and on one occasion the tracks of a bear followed up some distance without a view. In some places a marmot with a dog-like bark burrows in the ground, anda civet and wild cat have been seen. A pair of yellowbellied weasels visited the fowl-yard last spring, one was shot, and the natives, who have a superstition, said its mate in revenge would Kill all the fowls, Tt left, however, after a few days, but not before two chickens had been sacrificed; while the weasels were about, rats, which' swarm in the house, disappeared. 'There are no hares, though the lower spurs of the bills are covered with bracken. 'The want of cultivation may account' for their absence, as they are reported to be plentiful a little further in Tibet. Why the country should be so deserted is strange, for immediately across the mountain range, over which two passes lexd into Sikkim "the Jelap (14,700 ft.) and the Natui, about the same elevation, both some eight miles from Yatung, and the same distance from each other, the bushel, n wild sheep is not uncommon above the tree limi and at a little lower level the barking deer occurs. The Sikkim Political Officer,
last autumn from Gundok, "his" head-Mr. White, when oe iis way to Yatung quarters, shot two bushel one morning above his camp on the Sikkim side of the Natui pass; ami " Napalese shikara employed for three months to search the country saw nothing on the Tibet side, but shot several barking deer and two bushel on the other. There can be no large carnivora, for yaks graze unharmed over the hills, and 80 dooursheep. The only enemies of sheep are the big dogs kept by yak-herds to gourd their tents. They are as a rule tied up, but, if loose, may chase the sheep. So far only one sheep has been killed by a dog.
The bird record is also poor. In summer you inay wander all day through the woods without seeing any, There are no song birds, and the stillness and solitude of it all is very impressive. Should your wanderings extend to a hill-top, three to four thousand feet above Yatung (10,480 feet), except for 'a solitary raven, which may keep you its hoarse croak at lu ving creature, unless it bea grazing yak, may be met with, Few hi y the year round. 'The most conspicuous ar shrike, a white-capped redstart, which about' the streams, and the _whistlin, thrush, a yellow-billed bird of x bloc colour, overlaid with glistening cobalt-blue, which' haunts the banks of streams, A sparrow nested under the eaves of the house for the first time Inst year, and again this summer; and a dark-coloured wren seel shelter and warmth in the roof during ter. In severe weather flocks of crows and red-billed choughs come about food. Migratory birds noticed thrush and a pretty little tree-pippin, which stay through October and November. A swift arrives in July, a hoopoe was seen last August, and long-tailed magpies (Urocissa flxvivoetris) are sumner visitors for x short time in limited numbers. There is little to tempt birds which may pass up or down the Chumbi Valley, to turn up the Yatung Gorge, for it leads to the Joinp Pass, with another gorge branching off at Yatung attractive to birds, as the bottom lands are to the, Natal Pass, "Chumbi is probably cultivated, and its river, Amo, flows through Bhutan eventually joining the Bralmaputra in Assam, so that by following its course they get a more or less unimpeded fight through the Himalayas. Flights of wildfowl are never seen, though, strange to say, wild duck was observed feeding with some tame ducks last October. Unfortunately it was not reported, but driven away by the natives before its species was ucertained. Wild geese and ducks breed on Lake Paltee near Lhassa, and a present of wild eggs was brought from Tibet last spring. The lake freezes in winter, so the wild Swi must leave, and perhaps travel down the Brahmaputra Valley. However, under present circumstances it is impossible to learn what the Chumbi Valley may contain, for the Tibetans have built a wall across the gorge at Yatung, which Euro-Eirds may be numbered on the fingers of one jeans are not allowedtopass. Yatung game
land—siz, two pheasants, a partridge, snow pigeon, and the solitary snipe. The Monaut (Lophophorus impeyanua), i: handsome pheasar adult male weighs up to 5f Ibs., and is 28 inches long. It has 'a peacock-like crest, and the prevailing colour above is bronze-green glossed with gold, with a black breast and cinnamon-red tail, The female is wholly brown, with a white chin and throat. In winter they frequent the Yatung hills in numbers, leaving in spring for unknown breeding grounds. They are by no means easy to bag, for they can carry a lot of shot—No. 2 is the best—and if not hit about the head they will probably escape. They are usually found feeding in open spaces of the forest, and when disturbed dart down hill, or to the top of a tall tree; and, unless flushed off the hill-side above the gun, seldom offer fair flying shot. The best way is to take them sitting in a tree, though among the fir branches it is often difficult to locate them, and they may fy off, of course on the far side, without giving the gun a chance They have a gamey taste, but the flesh of the -eock bird is hard. The "blood" pheasant (Zthagenes cruentus), is a small bird—the adult male weighing under 141bs, and measuring 18 inches in length. It is grayish-coloured on the back, greenish below, with blood-red streaks on the breast, and theundertail coverts are also blood-red. The cere, legs, and spurs are crimson. The female is reddish-brown, finely mottled in black, They breed on the Yatung bills and in winter wander about in bevies of ten to thirty. They are great runners, but poor flyers, and sometimes when pressed jump up into trees. They seldom give a flying shot, but may easily be shot on the ground. The flesh is dry snd rather tasteless, Neither of these pheasants give much sport, but to get them entails hard climbing up and down the precipitous hills. The partridge (Zetraogallus Tibetanus), is dark in colour, and ranges between 15,000 and 18,000 ft. altitude. They are scarce, Last season eight birds only were seen, of which two were shot on the hill-top among rocks and boulders. The snow pigeon (Columba leuconola), breeds high up on the rocky peaks, but in October comes down in the early morning to feed in the Chumbi Valley. About nine o'clock flocks of them may often beseen returning, and later on in the season they sometimes pitch en the ground, or in trees, near Yatung. They are excellent eating. Solitary snipe ure about from October to December. Last year five were shot out of a marshy spot, about 10 feet square, close to the house. For about a month every few days a single bird was flushed from it. Itis curious they should have selected this litle place to rest in, for not far off are several likely snipe grounds, which.were often searched in vain, A few crimson tragopan (Gerioraa satyr), cross fom Sikkim to reed, but leave again in the early autumn and snow phensanta (Orossoptilum Tibetanwn), grey birds about the size of grouse, winter frequent in small numbers the highest peaks. The dove, so common in China, also comes over from Sikkim to breed." In August and September they are foud of feeding on small patch of cultivated ground near by, and when shot are.a welcome addition to the pot. Two quail only have been flushed, so they must be rare visitors. Birds of prey area buzzard, the lammergeyer vulture and two er three kinds of hawk. The buzzard is present all the year round, and the Iammergeyer appears with the cold weather on the lookout for dead pack mules; when a dead animal is left on the trail—a common rough occurrence—vulture after vulture hastens to the feast, 3 The great Tibetan stag inhabits Chumbi, and the river contains fish. The Kyang, or wild ass, roams about the buse of Chumolarhi Mountain (24,000ft.), some fifty miles to the north of Yatung, where probably game of various kinds is plentiful; but this virgin ground for the sportsman must wait to be explored until the Tibetans are less exclusive.
PIN
Yatung, Tibet, 4th September.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.