Young: Origin of Karakul Sheep 



447 



Sokoliev (both longtails) are also de- 

 scended from it. The Luk-Nakbo 

 breed of Tibet" is also closely related to 

 the black Danadar; so is the black 

 Gadik of Afghanistan, some few of 

 which are still found between Mazar-i- 

 Sherif and Kabul. I financed an expedi- 

 tion to Afghanistan this spring and 

 hoped to get photographs illustrating 

 the rare and valuable breeds of that 

 region, as some supposedly trusted 

 Turkomen living in Afghanistan near 

 the Bokharan border town of Kerki on 

 the Amur river had obligated them- 

 selves to bring two ewes and two rams 

 (Gadiks) to Kerki, where they were to 

 be turned over to the governor, who 

 promised to ship them on camels to 

 Karshi, where I patiently awaited 

 them. Alas! as there are no honest 

 Turkomen on earth, I lost my money. 

 As foreigners are forbidden entrance 

 to the military towns of Kushk, Takhti- 

 bazar, Kerki, Kelif, Termez and Sarai, 

 on the northern border of Afghanistan, 

 and as I could not get a Russian pass- 

 port (to which my birth entitles me) 

 without sacrificing my American citizen- 

 ship, I was again forbidden entrance to 

 those cities, which hold so much of 

 interest to the traveler as well as the 

 sheepman. I did indeed risk arrest for 

 espionage by visiting Kerki, where I 

 obtained an excellent Karakul ram. I 

 was conveyed from Karshi to Kerki in 

 an American Ford automobile, and 

 have some interesting photographs 

 showing how we were pulled out of the 

 drifting sand by camels at several 

 points on the route. Returning, we 



^ I wish to express my thanks to His Eminence the Chambo Jorje, ambassador of the Dalai 

 Lama, who while visiting the Czar at St. Petersburg kindly received me and furnished me with 

 much valuable information about this valuable fur-bearing member of the black Danadar family. 



' This communication was forwarded from Karshi, Bokhara, under date of June 1, 1914, Dr. 

 Young later succeeding in exporting 28 sheep which are now in quarantine near Baltimore, Md. 

 —The Editor. 



paid dear for having forsaken the faith- 

 ful camel, as we nearly perished from 

 thirst. 



The ministry of foreign affairs having 

 refused me permission to take any Kara- 

 kul sheep out of Bokhara for exportation 

 to the United States this year, I have 

 started an experimental farm in Bes- 

 sarabia, on the estate of Michael 

 Alexevitch Stamatov. During a cam- 

 paign of four and one-half months I 

 secured 66 head of Karakul sheep from 

 the districts of Karshi, Kerki, Gissar, 

 Tjarjui, Burdalik and Karaktil. As I 

 explained in a former paper, the few 

 Karakul sheep in European Russia, 

 which might be secured for export, are 

 all inbred and most of them crossed 

 with Afghan blood to such an extent as 

 to make them worthless. In Bokhara, 

 the Karakul breeds are hastening to- 

 ward extinction, thanks to the senseless 

 methods of the native breeders, who 

 kill all good lambs and, besides, con- 

 tinually infuse fine wool blood from 

 Afghanistan. I am trying to get the 

 Emir of Bokhara to take radical 

 measures to save the industry, and, 

 with the backing of the American and 

 British embassies and Professor Wallace 

 of the University of Edinburgh, have 

 already won the cordial support of the 

 governor-general of Turkestan and the 

 Russian ambassador at New Bokhara. 

 It is highly desirable, however, that 

 these fur-bearing sheep should become 

 established on a reasonably large scale 

 in the United States, by the introduction 

 of reliable stock.^ 



