CHAPTER XIII. 



After Roe-deer and Ibex. 



On the morning of August 22 I trekked down the Agiass Valley, 

 and on the way met Nurah and Numgoon, the Kalmuk 

 shikaris, coming up to join me. I was glad to see these men, 

 for without good shikaris it is a difficult matter discovering the 

 best ground. Nurah carried a breech-loading rifle of Russian 

 make, and his dress comprised a black cloth shirt, leather trousers 

 with a fringe resembling those of the Texan cowboys, and a 

 leather belt holding the inevitable pipe and tobacco. His foot- 

 gear consisted of skins secured with leather thongs. Numgoon 

 was similarly clothed, but his shirt and trousers were matted 

 with grease and dirt which would have appalled a laundry maid. 



We held a consultation and decided to go to the Mintaka 

 for " ilhk " or roe-deer, thence for ibex, sheep, and wapiti. It 

 sounded promising and I hoped it might prove to be so, hopes 

 destined to be duly realised. 



Nurah was a famous hunter and had been with other sports- 

 men who had shot in the Thian Shan, but he afterwards struck 

 me as having too good an opinion of himself. The other man, 

 Numgoon, was a most cheery soul, extremely hard-working and 

 keen, and in his company I passed many pleasant hours. 



Our reasons for moving to the " illik " ground were dictated 

 by the impossibility of getting higher up the Agiass Valley then on 

 account of the volume of water in the river, which would, 

 however, be diminished to a considerable extent a few weeks later. 

 We therefore made tracks for the Muntai Valley, some miles east 

 of the Agiass. On the way down one of the bullocks threw his 

 load when going over a bad turn in the path, with the result that 



