300 THIBETAN GAME. 



latter point, from personal experience of its advantages. 

 Nearly all the varieties of mountain sheep and goats 

 live at such elevations that they always keep in a cool 

 atmosphere. How these animals live during the intense 

 cold, when the deep snows of winter on lofty ranges 

 cover all herbage, is often a complete mystery. In 

 Thibet for instance, the most recent accounts state that 

 the " Ovis Ammon " is not found below an elevation 

 of 15,000 feet; * while the Thibetan antelope (Pantho- 

 lops Hodgsonii) and gazelle (Gazella Picticandatd) are 

 mostly found at elevations of from 16,000 to 18,500 

 feet, f 



There appears from these accounts to be an immense 

 quantity of game on this mighty table-land, and on 

 the slopes of the barren hills that rise out of it, which 

 form the greater part of this extraordinary region of 

 Thibet, nearly all of which lies at the enormous eleva- 

 tion of above 1 5 ,000 feet over sea-level. For example, 

 the following passage gives an idea of the quantity of 

 game seen : 



" In every direction (says Captain Bower) antelope and 

 yak in incredible numbers were seen, some grazing, some 

 lying down. No trees, no signs of man; and this peaceful 

 lake (close to where he was encamped) never before seen 

 by a European eye, is seemingly given over to the wild 

 animals a sportsman's paradise." ** 



The surprising numbers of game animals which 

 inhabit some of the most barren and apparently inhos- 

 pitable regions of the earth, is a circumstance which 



* Diary of a Journey Across Thibet, by Captain Hamilton Bower, 

 1 7th Bengal Cavalry, 1894, p. 288. 



7 Ibid., pp. 286 88. 



See Ibid., Minimum Temperature Chart, and Table of Recorded 

 Elevations, at the end of the volume (by Dr. Thorold, I. M.S.). 



** Ibid., p. 35 (near Aru, Camp 12, 17,176 feet over sea-level). 



