A Bleak and Windy Land. 



thaw itself out. The pony men had a number of sheep-skins and 

 fur coats in which they enveloped themselves, all huddled together 

 in a gigantic heap, an enclosure none stirred from till break of 

 dawn, and it was tolerably hard work inducing them to do so 

 even then. 



In summer it might be passably interesting to trek through 

 this country, but under winter conditions, and in the teeth of 

 the wind for which Mongolia is noted, is decidedly uninviting. 

 What inducements it might hold out to the sportsman during 

 summer I am unable to say, but in December it is certainly a land 

 to avoid, with its total absence of wood, and a wind I imagine 

 that must resemble those blizzards down at the South Pole. 



The light of after experience has demonstrated to me the 

 impossibility of including the Pamirs, the Thian Shan, and the 

 Great Altai Mountains in one's shooting programme when 

 restricted to twelve months, and then going on to the Trans- 

 Siberian Railway. 



As I have shown in the preceding pages the best season to visit 

 the Pamirs is June and July, at the close of which period one can 

 move to the Thian Shan and reach the wapiti and ibex ground at 

 the right time, which, in the case of the stag, is September, and 

 the ibex the latter part of August and October. At the con- 

 clusion of one's shoot in the Thian Shan the first signs of winter 

 have already appeared, and the distance lying between the latter 

 mountains and the Great Altai render it a task of great difficulty 

 reaching there in time for the Ovis amnion before the weather 

 renders it a matter of impossibility. One must, therefore, winter 

 en route, either in Kulja or in Chuguchak, the former for preference 

 since there is more to do and see though perhaps that is not saying 

 much. To endeavour, therefore, to carry out the full programme 

 in the limited space of twelve months is out of the question, as 

 the cold weather renders travelling an undertaking of great 

 hardship coupled with the fact that one cannot shoot during 

 the Mongohan winter, as, apart from the intense cold, the depth 

 of snow effectually bars all movement. 



353 2 A 



