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temperature, or both, of the sub-Himálayas south of the Cachar; the Cachar being the juxta-nivean region of these hills, where vegetation and temperature are European and quasi Arctic. But the Húniá does very well in the Cachar, and may with care be bred, or at least fattened, in the central region at heights not under 7 to 8000 feet, where the maximum temperature in the shade is about 70°. It is a hardy animal, feeding freely and fattening kindly. Its mutton and its fleece are both excellent in quality and very abundant in quantity, so that I should suppose the animal well worthy of the attention of sheep-rearers in cold climates. The wool is of the kind called long staple, and is valued by the export at 8 pence per pound.* The Tibetans who dress entirely in woollen, are clothed almost solely from the fleece of the Húniá, an excellent material but unskilfully wrought by them into cloth, blankets, and felts, as well as knitted into long stocking boots.

2. Oris silingia.-The Siling sheep or Pélúk of eastern Tibet and of Siling. Eastern Tibet is the Kham of the natives of that vast plateau and is a part of it less elevated, less rugged and less cold than the central, and yet more so than the western, portion. Towards Assam, in the valley of the Sanpú, rice is grown in Kham or eastern Tibet, a fact decisive of the high temperature of Kham, as compared with Utsang and Nari, or central and western Tibet. Indeed the plateau of Tibet descends rapidly all the way along the course of the Sánpú or Brahmaputra from its source to its gorge or exit from the Himalaya.† But still Kham must be described as a country of very moderate heat as well as of great dryness. North and east of Kham, on the verge of China, and separated from the Chinese provinces of Sifan and Shensi by the Peling mountains is Siling or Tángút, a colder and loftier region like Nari, and comprising the upper course of the Hoangho, as Nári that of the upper Bramhaputra. Siling is a country of great but vague celebrity, the Singapúr of the trade of high Asia, the cradle of the Chinese and Mantchurian families of mankind, and possibly of the

See Journal of the Agricultural Society, Vol. V. Part IV. p. 205. I shall be happy to facilitate the procuring of the animal or its wool for an experimental Essay.

+ Tibet is the vale of the Indus and Sánpú, the watershed being near the holy lakes, where the elevation is nigh 15,000 feet. At its gorge the Indus is not under 10,000. The Sánpú towards its source in Nari is above 15,000: towards its vent in Kham under 7000 : in its mid-course through Utsang, a mean nearer the latter.

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Tibetan family also, and identical, I believe, with the Serica regio* of the classics; and, last not least, the natal soil of a fine breed of sheep which spreading thence westerly through Kham (following probably and indicating the migrations in one route of the Scythic stock of the human race) is now common in Tibet as far as Lassa and Digare! i, whence the cis-Himálayans have imported a few samples, but rather as curiosities than for œconomic uses. The Silingia or sheep of Siling is nearly as common as the Húniá in Kham, but less so in Utsang and nearly or quite unknown in Nári, where the Húniá most abounds. The Silingia is a delicate breed, both in structure and constitution, compared with the Húniá, and though it will live and procreate in the Cachar, or northern region of the sub-IIimálayas, it is rare there, and unknown south of it. In Nepál I procured my specimens from the Court, which imported them from Lassa: in Sikim from the Barmúkh Raja, who procured them from Kham, all parties extolling highly the unrivalled fineness of the fleece, from which the people of Siling and the Chinese located there, manufacture the Tús and Málidah, or the finest woollens known to these regions, save such as are the product of European looms. This wool has been examined by competent authority, and is declared to be of shorter staple than that of the Húniá, but suitable for combing, and worth in the market about the same price as the IIúniá fleece or eight pence per pound. Of the merits of the mutton, I cannot speak from experience. But the Tibetans and Sikimites laud the flesh as highly as they do the fleece. The animal which yields both is somewhat smaller as well as slighter make than the Húniá, but bears otherwise much resemblance to it and is possessed, like it, of all the essential characters of the genus, which characters, having been once explained fully, need not be repeated. Length from snout to vent 31 to 3 feet. Height 2 to 2 feet. Head to occiput (straight) 9 to 10 inches. Ears 4 to 4. Tail only 4 to 5. Tail and wool, 6. Girth behind shoulder 24 to 21 feet. Horns by the curve 1 feet. Their

I have read with pleasure and profit Mr. Taylor's dissertation on the country of the Seres. But I still retain decidedly my former opinion, that the Serica or Sinica regio is Siling vel Sining vel Sering, inclusive of Kham, a country of great productiveness, greater trade (transit) and ancient and high celebrity, open to China by the Hoangho, to India by the Sánpu, and to western Asia and Europe by all the plateau of high Asia.

+ See Journal Agri. Society loco citato.

basal girth 6 to 7 inches. The Silingia is a breed of medium size and delicate form, with head and horns and general aspect much assimilated to the IIúniá. Head moderate-sized with nose considerably but not excessively arched, and somewhat slender, trigonal, compressed and wrinkled horns, curving circularly to the sides, but less tensely than in the Húniá, and the flat smooth points reverted backwards and upwards. In this breed there is even less departure from the primitive type as seen in the Argalis than there is in the Húniá; but the more lengthened ears are pendant entirely as in the latter, and the deer-like tail likewise is somewhat longer than in the wild type, being similar to that of the Iúniá. The eye, feet, and groin pits, are all forthcoming and as conspicuously as in the Argalis or in the Húniá. The colour is usually white but sometimes tinged with fawn, especially upon the face and limbs; and black is perhaps less rare as a colour in this breed than in the last. The females of the Silingia are commonly horned, though hornless females are often met with. Great intestines 17 feet, small 55 72. Cœcum 9 inches long by 3 wide. Width of small gut inch. Of large. The tame sheep of Tibet (the Húniá and Silingia) rut in winter and produce young in summer, the females gestating 5 months. They breed but once a year and produce ordinarily one young at a birth, but frequently two. Their periods of puberty and of longevity have nothing peculiar or different from what is well known of other breeds in other realms.

3. Ovis Barúál.—The Barwál. This is a cis-Himálayan breed and the ordinary sheep of the Cachar or northern region of the sub-Himalayas* where immense flocks are reared by the Gúrúng tribe, in all the tracts between Júmla and Kiránt. The breed extends, as I know, from Kumaoon to Sikim, and, as I conjecture, still further beyond these western and eastern limits. The Barwál is especially the breed of the northern region of the cis-Himálayas; and though its strength of constitution enables it to live pretty well in the central region, yet it is seldom bred there, and never in the southern region of the Hills, nor in the plains of India, the heat of which it probably could not endure. The Barwal is the "hero of a hundred fights," his high courage, vigorous frame, superior size and enormous horns covering and shielding his entire forehead, rendering him more than a match for any foreign

* Bhote purganahs of Traill apud Trans. Asiatic Society.

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