no AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



country was wild and desolate. Now and then 

 we would come across fine pasture grounds with 

 rich grass, such as one meets on the Pamir steppes, 

 and dark green patches here and there denoting- 

 marshy grounds, which our ponies would persistently 

 avoid. Fine rocks suggestive of Ibex now stood on 

 all sides, but not a sign of a beast anywhere. In 

 the afternoon we returned to camp rather disgusted, 

 especially after the previous day's success, and 

 Littledale soon came in with a similar report. He 

 had found several herds of ewes and Ibex, and 

 had seen a couple of Maral hinds, but of the stronger 

 sex there was no trace. This was indeed an ewe 

 day ! Our minds were now turned towards the 

 Mongolian side, which we thought the old rams 

 mioht have chosen for their summer resort, though 

 we decided to have a more careful survey of the 

 surrounding country before shifting camp into the 

 unknown. 



We were up at 3 a.m., as usual, on the following 

 morning, but found heavy clouds rolling in the sky, 

 and a strong south-west wind blowing. The barometer 

 was low, so we thought it was no use going out. At 

 6 a.m. all the ground round our tents was under 

 snow, several inches thick, and the wind turned into 

 a gale, raging furiously the whole day. This was 



