io6 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



My two hunters came down presently, and seemed 

 to be greatly rejoiced at the day's success. They 

 kept saying " J akshi " ("Well done"), "Jahn Muss" 

 ("large horn"), and engaged in a wild conversation 

 between each other, which I was at a loss to under- 

 stand. I could hardly judge of their hunting 

 capacities by this first experience, though I was 

 now able to assert that they both possessed good 

 eyesight. We sat down to lunch close by the 

 stream, after having dragged the two dead sheep 

 to a comfortable spot. Their size was about that 

 of a Scotch red-deer hind, and I should say they 

 measured nearly four feet at the shoulders. Their 

 coats were of a darkish brown colour, with patches 

 of long thick hair, darker than the rest — remains 

 of their winter coating. Their legs and rumps 

 were of a lighter colour, and, as we grallocked 

 them, I found they were exceedingly lean. We 

 left the bodies, taking only the heads and skins 

 with us, which my Kalmuks tied to their saddles, 

 intending to send back later on for the meat. It 

 was a difficult scramble down for the ponies, which 

 one of the men had gone to fetch and had recklessly 

 brought down, the stones at the bottom of the gully 

 rolling away at every moment from under their feet. 



When we reached the main stream below, we found 



