Across the Roof of the World. 



jungle, the ground above to the east having all the appearance 

 of first rate ibex country, and indicative of bumper heads. Nurah 

 went on further up the valley to see if there were any Kalmuks 

 shooting, as we had noted the tracks made by their horses, 

 but he came in an hour or so later without having encountered 

 any. He had seen two lots of ibex above and just beyond camp, 

 so this looked promising, and I decided to stay a day or two and 

 prospect the ground. I spent the late afternoon collecting 

 firewood in the stony bed of a side ravine, here joining the main 

 valley, most of which had been washed down from above. 

 That night was one of the coldest I had experienced in the 

 Thian Shan, the thermometer dropping to eight degrees, while 

 a keen wind did not improve matters. 



On the 9th I tried the ground above camp to the east, going 

 up over the long grass slopes, a climb lasting 4I hours. It proved 

 decidedly a disappointment, for the wind, having hitherto been 

 perfect, suddenly turned the moment I came within shot of a herd 

 numbering about 150, and before I could get a chance they were 

 lowering all previous records. No words can depict one's disgust 

 on occasions like this, at any rate my vocabulary was quite 

 unequal to it. Nurah was very annoyed and swore volubly in 

 Kalmuk, which doubtless would have held its own with a 

 Bilhngsgate fish porter. 



The ground about here certainly seemed to be a regular 

 rendezvous for ibex, for within two hours of leaving camp I 

 had seen well over 300 heads in four different herds. It must 

 not, however, be imagined that they all carry big horns, for out 

 of the 300 there were certainly not more than six big heads, and 

 they were in the herd I was after. 



Of course the Thian Shan is undoubtedly the place par 

 excellence for ibex, but good heads, and by good heads I mean 

 nothing under 48 inches, are not too easily found, though they 

 are there. Excellent shooting can be enjoyed in the Thian Shan, 

 and once arrived one feels indeed that the reward is worthy of the 

 toil, the many long marches, and all it takes to get there. 



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