Ibex Shooting in the Thian Shan Mountains 



crash; then, of their own accord, they backed fur- 

 ther away, until forty yards separated them, when 

 they would again come together, repeating this 

 until one was groggy, which usually occurred after 

 four or five rushes. 



For the next two weeks we hunted on the head- 

 waters of the Kok-Su, some of the time being 

 storm-bound or unable to hunt on account of the 

 clouds being low on the mountains. During this 

 time I shot six ibex, the best head being fifty 

 inches, while the smallest was forty-six. I could 

 have shot a great many more if I had wished to do 

 so. This was not as well as I should have done, 

 but I was very unfortunate in having my glasses 

 washed away while crossing a river, leaving me 

 only the big telescope, which I could not use for 

 quick work, and often I was not sure of getting 

 the best head from a herd of ibex about to move 

 off, as the difference between fifty inches and fifty- 

 four inches is not easily detected at two hundred 

 yards. 



By this time our ponies were very footsore and 

 thin, and we decided to go down to the Kirghiz 

 encampments to renew our supply, and once more 

 our men were reveling in kumyss, while we were 

 forced, from politeness, to drink the tea offered to 

 us as a delicacy. This tea is compressed into bricks 



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