ORDER ARTIODACTYLA : EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 591 



Cobbold writes (The Field, Nov. 5, 1898)* that rinderpest raged 

 all over the Pamirs throughout the winter of 1897-98, and that 

 these sheep succumbed literally by hundreds. 



Carruthers (19156, pp. 129-131) writes of this sheep: 



For the most part the poll have retreated westwards, where the great 

 feeding grounds of the Alichur, the Great and Little Pamirs and Kara-kul 

 still afford a safe retreat. . . . 



Harassed by stray sportsmen in summer, killed off by wolves and natives 

 in winter, the wild sheep have retreated westwards, where there is less per- 

 secution and wilder country. . . . 



The colossal heads of 70 and 75 inches are no longer to be obtained, even 

 on the Russian Pamirs. The Chinese Pamir has not produced many heads 

 over 60 inches for several years, and one is lucky to get one over 50 inches now. 



In 1925 Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt (1926, pp. 223-242) 

 found fair numbers in the Chinese and the Russian Pamirs. 



Conditions during the following year are reported by Morden 

 (1927, pp. 73, 83, 93-94) : 



With the advent of more modern firearms and the absence of any restric- 

 tions, it is to be feared that in a few years the herds of Marco Polo's sheep 

 will be materially decreased. . . . 



Ovis poli, while scarce in Chinese territory, were plentiful in the Russian 

 Pamirs. During our month in that region we counted 1052 rams and 607 

 females and young. . . . 



We were told that the sheep were found practically everywhere in the 

 Pamirs .... 



The lives of the poli must be made miserable by the great number of 

 parasites infesting them. All adults collected by us had quantities of grubs 

 beneath the skins .... Grubs were found in the noses of many specimens 

 and all were infested with ticks. The ticks probably caused the frequent 

 rubbing against rocks which we noticed. 



"Within Indian limits, Ovis poli are found only in Hunza. The 

 Mir of Hunza has given them for some years strict protection in his 

 territory." (Anonymous, 1933, p. 35.) 



Altyn-Tagh Argali 



Ovis AMMON DALAI-LAM AE Przewalski 



Ovis dalai-lamae Przewalski, Cat. Zool. Coll. Przewalski Central Asia, p. 16, 

 1887. (Apparently the Moscow Range, south of the Altyn-Tagh, and 

 adjacent to the Columbus Range, Chinese Turkestan.) 



FIG.: Nasonov, 1923, pi. 14, fig. 2. 



The slight information we have concerning this apparently rare 

 sheep is far from up-to-date. That given below is derived chiefly 

 from Nasonov (1923, pp. 101-103), since most of the works from 

 which he quotes have not been available to me. 



Horns small, 32^ inches in length on the front curve; throat-ruff 

 weakly developed, not clear white; muzzle, belly, groin, and but- 



