and clay slates, resting on granite. The hills morn to the N. and N.W. are basaltic. The extensive plains lying between these different lines of hills and eminences are composed of the rich black mould called regur or cotton ground, resulting from decomposed basaltic rocks. To the N.E. a considerable tract of limestone is found, resting on the sandstone, about Bagalcote, Badami, Hungund, Mudibihal, etc.
The strange-looking goat-antelope (Nemorrhee dna bubalina), known by the name ramoo in Kashmir, and serou in other districts of the Western Himalaya, is perhaps the rarest of the wild ruminants. Occasionally the sportsman comes across an individual in the depths of the alpine forests, but the animal is very solitary in its habits, and seldom more than a couple arc seen together. Both in figure and movements the scrou is perhaps one of the most ungainly of its tribe, and so stupid is it that when come on unawares it will stand and gaze at the intruder ; even the report of a rifle seldom scares it. The scroll has the legs of a goat, the horns of an antelope ; its general appearance is bovine, whilst the long stiff bristles on its back, and general shape of the head, are decidedly porcine,—a sort of nondescript beast, which European sportsmen often call a very extraordinary looking animal, and so it is. The serou is said to fight desperately ; it has been known when wounded or brought to bay to have kept off a pack of wild dogs, and killed several by its sharp-pointed horns. A few are met with on the Kashmir ranges, and in favourable situations eastward to Nepal.
The houriar (Caprovis Vignei) extends along the eastern spurs of the Salt Mountains, but becomes less common as we proceed eastward, and is seldom met with on the ranges beyond the town of Jhelum, or southwards of the Beas river. It is confined to the north and western portions of the Panjab, including the Suliman chain, where it is known by the name of knch. It is also a denizen of the mountains around Peshawur, including the Khaibar pass, Hindu Koh, and Kafiristan. The shapoo or shalmar of Ladakh, if not identical, is certainly very closely allied ; its differences are slight, and such as might result in a great measure from the marked diversity of climate, food, etc., of the two regions. This species is no doubt the sha of Tibet described by Vigne, and possibly the wild sheep of Western Afghanistan, Persia, the Caucasus, Armenian and Corsican mountains, is the same species altered mayhap by climate and other external agencies.
The eastern limits of shapoo have not been fixed with certainty ; but so far as inquiries have extended, it would seem that, commencing at Ladakh, it proceeds westward towards the Indus, into the regions where the houriar is found ; and probably when these regions are ex plored we shall find out the relation between what has been supposed distinct, but which Dr. Adams was inclined to consider one and the same animal.
The ibex (Capra Himalayana) frequents many of the lofty ranges of the western chains, and is known to the natives by the names Skeen and kail, which they apply indiscriminately in the districts of Aserung, Spits, Kanawar, the Northern Kashmir mountains, Ladakh, Chinese Tartary, and the Altai. There appears to be a variety in Ladakh with shorter horns than the Himalayan, and specimens of the Siberian ibex posseas the same peculiarity. Tho leopards, panthers, wild dog, and bearded vulture are the common enemies of the ibex ; the vulture preys on the kids only. The ibex is found on certain ranges in Ladakh, especially on the chains northward.
Tho Caucasian ibex (Capra Caucasia) frequents the mountains of Baluchistan, and it is likewise a native of the Murree and other ranges on the north-western frontier of Sind. The Caucasus, Asia Minor, Syria, and Arabia are also countries which it inhabits. It does not appear to travel any great distance eastward, and is probably replaced on the higher ranges of Afghanistan and Persia by its noble congener the Himalayan ibex. The Caucasian ibex has the hair short and dark brown, with a black line down the back. The beard is also black. Like the European and Himalayan animals, the horns are also bent back wards, but they differ in being more slender and tapering. In the latter, moreover, the horns are three-sided, and the anterior and posterior surfaces sharp, and generally smooth, with the exception of a few irregular tuberosities on the frontal aspect. • Like the other species, it frequents dangerous and inaccessible places, such as bleak and barren mountain tops.