Across the Roof of the World. 



On October nth I moved camp higher up the valley some 

 three miles above the last patch of jungle. This was near the 

 head of the nullah, with good ibex ground on both sides, 

 sloping up for hundreds of feet in tiers to the higher rocks. I 

 camped by a sheep pen, used by the Kazaks during the winter, 

 constructed of brushwood, all of which we burnt during the two 

 days spent there. The Agiass Valley here divided into two 

 branches, the western one ending in a glacier some three miles up. 



On the i2th I tried the new ground and came on ibex there. 

 We had gone a long way up almost to the top level of the grass 

 stretches when we espied a herd of some forty bucks a good way 

 below us, and, as usual, with a ring of madeens round them. The 

 only line of approach was down a side ravine which meant a long 

 detour, and required careful negotiating, for the ground was 

 littered with rocks and boulders, and the noise of these as the}?- went 

 crashing down, when unwittingly dislodged by us, threatened to 

 give the alarm and send the herd off in sudden flight. However, 

 we managed it all right and towards the late afternoon came 

 within shot. The herd was then on a grassy patch below us, so 

 from our position I commanded a view of them and could 

 single out the best head. Just as I was firing at one of the 

 biggest bucks a madeen whistled like a railway engine, which was 

 the signal for the whole herd to get under way. I singled out what 

 appeared to be another good head and had a going-away shot, 

 hitting him in the hindquarters and raking him fore and aft. The 

 tape gave the horns 47! inches — a welcome addition to the bag. 

 I then went after the one first hit, and found him lying down 

 at the foot of a small cliff, so, resting my rifle on the edge, a shot 

 behind the shoulder accounted for him. After measuring the 

 horns, which taped 45 inches, we gathered up both trophies and 

 wended our way back to camp. 



On arriving there I was glad to find Numgoon, he having 

 returned from his short spell of leave to Shota, after depositing 

 the heads in the merchant's log hut at the mouth of the 

 Agiass Valley. A heavy fall of snow set in at 5 o'clock, the 



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