CHAPTER I. 



Introductory. 



The subject of Central Asia has ever been an absorbing one 

 from a political point of view, whilst from its sporting aspect 

 it is none the less interesting since there is found such shooting 

 as rarely falls to the lot of man. Foremost in this latter con- 

 nection, and skirting the northern boundaries of our Indian 

 Empire, are the Pamirs, that vast, mountainous region fitly 

 termed the " Roof of the World," lying as it does at an average 

 elevation of 13,000 feet. Here, amidst the wide, open valleys and 

 formidable leads, forming the principal features of these bleak- 

 uplands, is the home of the Ovis poli, the largest and finest of all 

 the wild sheep. Many hundreds of miles further north lie the 

 Thian Shan, a grand chain of mountains running east and west, 

 dividing Kashgaria from the IH Valley and Northern Turkistan, 

 the habitat of the Asiatic wapiti and the big Turkistan ibex. 

 There also are found Asiatic roe -deer, Ovis karelini, red, and black 

 bear, while on the plains to the northward gazelle are encountered 

 of a type peculiar to Central Asia. Continuing the onward 

 march across the wind-swept plains of Northern Turkistan 

 and the desolate Mongolian steppes, one reaches the Great 

 Altai Mountains, the haunt of the true Ovis ammon, another 

 species of wild sheep. The immense distances separating these 

 shooting grounds constitute in themselves an obstacle that 

 requires all the energy and experience of the sportsman to over- 

 come, whilst the route through wild and little-known countries, 

 amongst strange races of nomads, and over ground but seldom 

 trodden by man, is sufficient to put his patience and endurance 

 to the severest test. 



