THE PAMIR WILD SHEEP 811 



To support the enormous weight of the horns great strength in the neck and 

 fore parts of the rams is essential; and this is afforded by the great depth of the 

 neck and chest, as is well shown in our illustration. 



The Pamir sheep takes its name from inhabiting the elevated dis- 

 trict in Central Asia known as the Pamirs, or " Roof of the World." 

 It is also found on the table-lands to the westward and northward of Eastern 

 Turkestan; while its range extends northward across the Thian-Shan range to the 

 Semiretchinsk Altai. It has been obtained from the head waters of the Amu Darya, 

 and to the north and south of the Gobi desert; while to the westward it extends as 

 far south as the Shimshal Pamir just north of Gilgit, and thus comes within 

 the limits of the territory under the influence of the Government of India. On the 

 average, this sheep may be said to live at an elevation of about twelve thousand 

 feet, but in some districts it ascends higher, while in others it is found at much 

 lower levels. 



The typical and larger form of this sheep is the one inhabiting the Pamirs, 

 while the rather smaller variety described as O. karelini is from the Thian-Shan; it 



SKULI, AND HORNS OF PAMIR SHEEP. 

 (From Sir V. Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1875.) 



has been shown, however, that the one form passes imperceptibly into the other. 

 A sheep described by Dr. Severtzow, under the name of O. heinsi is probably also 

 not specifically separable. 



In the neighborhood of Wakhan the rams of the Pamir sheep are known by the 

 name of kuchkar, while the ewes ar,e termed mesh; but in the Turki language, as 

 spoken in Eastern Turkestan, the males are called kulja or gulja, and the females arkar. 

 The habits of this sheep appear to be almost or exactly similar to 

 those of the Tibetan argali. It inhabits, however, a far less barren 

 country than the latter; the undulating slopes of the Pamirs being covered in sum- 

 mer with a continuous carpet of rich grass. The breeding season of this species 

 occurs in the winter, during the months of December and January; and at that 

 period some of the herds may be very large. 



Describing the nature of the country inhabited by the Pamir sheep, Colonel H. 

 Trotter, who was attached to the expedition under Sir D. Forsyth, observes that 

 after passing a place called Chakmak, on the southern slopes of the Thian-Shan 

 range, the road for twenty-five miles "continues gently ascending along the course 



