io8 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



him several chances of which he had availed himself. 

 Seven animals the first day seemed promising for 

 the future, and merry was our dinner that night as 

 we gave the ladies an account of our experiences. 

 We had both found the sheep at an altitude of about 

 9,000 feet, and had each only seen one lot of rams, 

 though probabilities were great that the surrounding- 

 country was a favourite resort of theirs. We decided 

 to acquire a thorough knowledge of our ground 

 before crossing into Mongolia, and started on the 

 following morning, June 18th, at 3 a.m., Littledale 

 going in the direction westwards, where a long- 

 valley, with steep crags on either side, led towards 

 the Tarkhaty River, whilst I was to follow up the 

 main Tchagan - Burgaza stream from camp to its 

 sources. It was still pitch dark when we mounted 

 our steeds, but the sky was again cloudless, and 

 there was every prospect of fine weather. We 

 crossed the river, my hunters and I, and trotting 

 along up the bed of the stream for a good hour, 

 soon began spying both sides. On our way we 

 saw several pairs of Brahminy Geese, which we 

 startled out of the rocks where they were breeding. 

 Animal life seemed very scarce. Two or three 

 Eagles soared over our heads, and it was only to- 

 wards 6 a.m. that I saw a herd of four ewes feeding 



