Game Animals of India, etc. 



the upper-parts of old rams is light speckled brown ; 

 the greater portion or the whole of the face, as well as 

 the throat, the chest, the under-parts, the buttocks, 

 and the legs are white ; the white also extending on to 

 the outer surface of the thighs. A black streak runs 

 from the nape of the neck to the withers. No distinct 

 ruff of long hairs is developed on the throat in the 

 summer coat ; but in winter, when the whole coat is 

 considerably longer, such a ruff — pure white in colour 

 — makes its appearance on the throat and chest. At 

 this season, too, the fur on the back shows a more 

 decided rufescent tinge, especially towards the boundary 

 dividing the dark from the light areas. In the ewes 

 during winter the neck is brown in front, and there 

 may be a dark line extending from the head to the 

 root of the tail, this streak being absent in summer. 

 The horns of ewes (plate iii, fig. la) appear to be more 

 upright, deeper, and more sharply keeled in front than 

 in the argali ; although there may be an individual 

 variation in this respect. 



A mounted male specimen of Ovis poll in the 

 British Museum stands 3 feet 5 inches at the shoulder ; 

 and the weight of an adult ram is estimated at 11 

 stone. The four finest pairs of horns on record 

 respectively measure 75, 73, 71, and 70 inches along 

 the front angle ; their respective basal girths being 16, 

 15, 15^, and 17 inches, and the tip-to-tip intervals 54^, 

 48, ^^^^ and 52 inches. 



This magnificent wild sheep has an extensive range 

 in Central Asia, the details of which are given in Wild 

 Oxen^ Sheep, and Goats of All Lands. It only enters 

 the area treated of in the present volume in the plateau 

 north of Hunza, a district on the southern flanks of 

 the Karakorum or Mastag range, north-west of Gilgit. 

 It is commonly found at elevations between 10,000 

 and 18,000 feet above the sea-level. 



If not inconvenienced by living at such a height, the 

 sportsman will find Ovis poli stalking less fatiguing 



92 



