50 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



and therefore we went back for our guns and after- 

 wards shot some of them. If possible, the chikor 

 here are even better runners than the Kashmir 

 ones. 



We forded the river next morning, and then the 

 caravan went on by the ordinary road, while we 

 made a detour in the hopes of seeing the sheep. 

 Our guide said there were not many now, as they 

 had been much shot by the native hunters ; but still, 

 he expected to see some. The country was low, 

 scrubby hills, with a few stunted willow-trees in the 

 nullahs, where the water must be near the surface, 

 though one small puddle was all we saw on the top. 

 We saw three sheep, two ewes, and a very small 

 ram ; also we found an old head, which roughly 

 measured 50 inches in length and 18 inches round 

 the base of the horn. It is difficult to say of what 

 species these sheep are ; the ground they are on is 

 only just off the plain, and cannot be more than 

 6,000 feet above the sea, if so much, which is surely 

 too low for Ovis karelini, while the country is very 

 barren ; the animals are much darker in colour than 

 Ovis poli, though this, of course, may be their 

 summer coat. 



About eight miles short of Kizil-bulak we came 

 to another plain, on the other side of which the 

 village itself was visible just at the foot of the hills, 

 this time the beginning of the main range. Far up 

 above we could see green grass and a few scattered 



