Game Animals of India, etc. 



by Mr. Rowland Ward respectively measure 5o|-, 50, 

 49^, and 48I- inches in length ; their basal girths being 

 18^-, 17, 18, and 19 inches. 



The range of this sheep includes the plateau of 

 Tibet, extending from Northern Ladak at least as far 

 east as the districts north of Sikhim, and northwards to 

 the Kuen-lun and perhaps beyond the Mustag range, 

 while farther east it may embrace the southern confines 

 of the Gobi Desert. Unknown to the southward of 

 the main Himalayan axis, and not even entering 

 Zanskar, the argali is seldom found in Ladak, where 

 Chang-chenmo is one of its favourite resorts, below 

 15,000 feet, although descending to 12,000 feet during 

 winter. 



Although the large flocks ot ewes and young rams 

 met with in Chang-chenmo may be approached within 

 a short distance, the case is different with the old rams, 

 which in summer keep apart from the flocks and resort 

 to the highest grounds on which subsistence is pro- 

 curable. Even when in broken country, stalking is 

 difficult enough, but when in the open, it requires all 

 the skill of the sportsman to get within range. Younger 

 rams may be seen with two or three ewes even in the 

 summer. As the general habits of the nyan are 

 practically the same as those of Marco Polo's sheep, it 

 will suffice to say that the pairing-season occurs in the 

 middle of the winter, and that the lambs are born five 

 months later — in May or June. 



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