?\ltf: ai t;:k w:i,p .sheep in the aetai 



seen. I at once decided that the year should not 

 pass before I also would attempt to make a similar 

 bag-. From that moment my only thought was to 

 start as soon as possible. I accordingly endeavoured 

 to secure all the information possible on the subject, 

 chiefly, of course, on the locality where the animals 

 in question had been shot. Failing to find Major 

 Cumberland himself, who I understood had set out 

 on another and more distant journey, I luckily came 

 across the interpreter who had accompanied him to 

 the Altai, Joseph Abbas by name, and with whose 

 useful help I marked on the map the route leading 

 to those happy hunting grounds. He told me that 

 there was plenty of sport to be obtained, that the 

 magnificent sheep whose heads I had so much 

 admired were by no means scarce, and that if we 

 only went further into Mongolia we would come 

 across virgin country where no sportsman had yet 

 had the pick of such trophies. To this I of course 

 agreed with the greatest enthusiasm, having four 

 good summer months before me, and at once engaged 

 Joseph's services, enjoining him to be ready to start 

 by the middle of April. In the meantime I com- 

 municated this plan to my friend Mr. St. George 

 Littledale, who had also seen the heads, and who was 

 equally keen to secure similar trophies. 



