CHAPTER XV. 



More Wapiti and Ibex. 



Having bagged one good wapiti I was now desirous of returning 

 to the Agiass valley for some more ibex, but the Kalmuks said 

 T ought to try the Muntai to the west, they being confident of 

 further success in the " boga " line. I therefore decided to pursue 

 my old tactics, and, taking only light kit, bivouac in the forests 

 of the Muntai Valley, which, if anything, are even more dense 

 than those of the Kok Terek. 



So on the morning of September 29th I started out on horse- 

 back to cross the range lying between me and the valley in question. 

 A deal of snow had fallen during the night, and the ground was 

 everywhere covered with it to a depth of two or three inches. On 

 the way, and just after leaving camp, I came on the tracks of a 

 " boga " in the freshly fallen snow, and Numgoon went off to follow 

 it up, wildly excited when it appeared out of the brushwood 

 and dashed off up hill. It was quite a small head, though it would 

 have been very welcome to the Kalmuks had they been out 

 on their own account. I descended into the Muntai Valley 

 on the other side, bivouacking in a ravine leading off from the 

 main valley. It was now towards the close of the calling season 

 and I realised that if I was to get another stag there was no time 

 to be lost. 



That evening we had a roaring fire of pine logs and sat around 

 it far into the night discussing sport in the Thian Shan and the 

 habits of the different animals, concerning which the Kalmuks 

 have many strange beliefs. Numgoon told me that the fox is 

 of a black colour for five hundred years, after which he changes 

 to white for a similar period. At the close of a thousand years, 



259 s 2 



