PASS INTO MONGOLIA 115 



ground presenting a sheer dip at that place. They 

 all appeared again several hundred yards beneath 

 us and crossed the stream, making for the opposite 

 side. I counted eighteen altogether, as I watched 

 them climbing up the left slopes of the nullah. 

 They presently joined with a herd of ewes, and 

 continued in one lot up the hill. Some of the 

 rams carried beautiful heads, though the one I 

 had bagged seemed as good as any of them. Un- 

 luckily, owing to the conformation of the ground, 

 I had failed to get a second shot. I found my 

 animal had rolled down some way, and had been 

 stopped by his horns catching on a ledge of rock. 

 I taped them on the spot; they measured 55 inches 

 along the curve by 17^ inches girth, 39^ inches from 

 tip to tip. As my hunters grallocked him, I sat 

 down to watch the herd that had now halted half-way 

 up the slopes and were examining our proceedings 

 with the utmost curiosity, but, scared as they were, 

 they soon trotted away and disappeared over the 

 main ridge. As for us, we continued up the valley 

 with the intention of finding a favourable pass into 

 Mongolia, none of our Kalmuks having ever passed 

 the frontier. 



As we advanced, the valley became narrower and 

 rocks more frequent ; as for the dividing saddle, it 



