hes,
and are 10 or 11 inches in circumference at the base.

"The female tahr is very much smaller than the male; the hair is short,
and the horns diminutive. The colour is a lightish red, with a dark
stripe down the back.

"The tahr is like the markhor, a forest-loving animal, and, although
it sometimes resorts to the rocky summits of the hills, it generally
prefers the steep slopes, which are more or less clothed with trees.
Female tahr may be frequently found on open ground, but old males
hide a great deal in the thickest jungle, lying during the heat of
the day under the shade of trees or overhanging rocks. Nearly
perpendicular hills with dangerous precipices, where the forest
consists of oak and ringall cane, are the favourite haunts of the
old tahr, who climb with ease over ground where one would hardly
imagine that any animal could find a footing. Tahr ground indeed is
about the worst walking I know, almost rivalling markhor ground; the
only advantage being that, bad as it is, there are generally some
bushes or grass to hold on to.

"Owing to the ground it inhabits being so covered with jungle, the
pursuit of the tahr is attended with a great deal of labour and
uncertainty. Forcing one's way for hours through tangled bushes is
very fatiguing, and, as it is impossible to do so without noise,
chances are often lost which would be easy enough if the ground was
more open. Frequently, although the tracks show that old tahr must
be near, and in spite of the utmost care and caution, the first
intimation one has of the presence of the game is a rush through the
bushes, a clatter of falling stones, and perhaps a glimpse of the
shaggy hind-quarters of the last of the herd as he vanishes over some
precipice where it is perfectly impossible to follow him.

"Early in the spring, when grass and leaves are scarce, and again
in the rutting season, are the best times for tahr shooting, as the
old males then come out on open slopes.

"The tahr is very tenacious of life, and, even when mortally wounded,
he will frequently make his escape into utterly impracticable ground.
In autumn the tahr becomes immensely fat and heavy, and his flesh
is then in high favour with the natives, the rank flavour suiting
their not very delicate palates. An Englishman would rather not be
within one hundred yards to leeward of him, the perfume being equal
to treble-distilled 'bouquet de bouc.' Ibex is bad enough, but tahr
is 'a caution.' The flesh