CHAPTER XXII. 



In the Great Altai Mountains. 



I HAD decided wlicn starting north from tlie Thian Shan to 

 go on to tlie Altai in the hope of securing some specimens 

 of the Ovis amnion. My original programme, drawn up before 

 leaving Lansdowne, had included the Altai, though prospects 

 of ultimately reaching there were dependent on considerations 

 of leave and the amount of time at my disposal in which to 

 carry out the expedition in full. 



With my arrival in Kulja I began to realise the difficulties 

 confronting me, and the possibihty of being unable to negotiate 

 the formidable passes leading from the Black Irtish Valley 

 on to the wild sheep ground on the northern slopes of 

 the Altai mountains. It was after leaving Chuguchak, a 

 month later, that I foresaw it would be a hard proposition to 

 attempt the crossing of the Altai so late in the year, for 

 the intense cold and depth of snow would probably bar my 

 movements. I trekked on, however, hoping against hope that 

 I should be able to manage it, and thus achieve the main object 

 of the expedition, to accomplish which I had trekked many 

 hundreds of miles through a desolate country in the depth of 

 winter, when all nature is locked in an icy grip and tlie vast 

 steppes are bare and bleak, swept by an Arctic blast that defies 

 resistance. 



The nullah leading to the pass which crosses the main range 

 of the Altai north of Shara Sumbe, at an altitude of just under 

 10,000 feet, was blocked with snow, and higher up became more 

 than ever impassable. To take ponies over by this route was 

 clearly out of the question, so on returning that night 



-,8o 



