ii2 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



objects appeared among the bushes on the far side 

 of the upper little valley. Joy ! two stags, no 

 doubt. The big telescope was hastily produced, 

 and the remains of the rapidly fading light just 

 served to show that one of them was a really big 

 stag, the other a small fellow. 



Stag wapiti are in the late autumn and winter 

 very light-coloured ; in fact, from above they look 

 almost white. The hinds are much darker, and the 

 difference can be seen at once with the naked eye 

 almost as far as the beasts themselves are visible. 



Of course, it was far too late to do anything, so 

 after waiting till it grew quite dark, for fear of being 

 seen as we retired, we returned to camp in cheerful 

 mood, Durji full of confidence, saying I should 

 shoot the big stag next day for sure, I myself less 

 certain of it, but hopeful. 



Next day, accompanied by two other Kalmaks, 

 we started before four o'clock, in black darkness, 

 and, having reached our yesterday's post of obser- 

 vation, we sat down to wait for dawn. It was 

 bitterly cold, and I was nearly frozen, in spite of a 

 heavy fur coat ; but when, after what seemed hours, 

 it began to get light, there was the big stag feeding 

 alone on a grass patch among some bushes close to 

 where we had seen him the evening before. His 

 smaller companion had apparently gone elsewhere 

 during the night, as we saw no more of him. 



The hillside which the stag was on was mostly 



