THE SAIGA 151 



and secured several. Littledale was very anxious to 

 know if the habitat of the Saiga extended as far east 

 as Mongolia, and being keen to shoot one, made it 

 a point to cross-examine our Kalmuks on the subject 

 on our return to camp ; but no useful information was 

 to be got from them, although we did our best to 

 describe the Saiga, drawing their attention to the 

 swelling on the beast's nose. I hardly think that the 

 Saiga exists in Mongolia, and suppose that the 

 animals we saw must have been Antilope gutturosa. 

 Seeing that there was no sport to be obtained on 

 the low ground, I suggested to Taba that we might 

 try the hills to the westward, and spend the remainder 

 of the day in inspecting the numerous corries outside 

 the Happy Valley, where Littledale was at work. 

 So we struck a ridge, and in a couple of hours found 

 ourselves at an elevation of about 11,000 feet on 

 a stony plateau commanding a view over a large 

 stretch of rocky country, with stiff walls of grim- 

 looking crags on every side, and broad slides of 

 snow running down the steep ravines. A basin of 

 hills, two or three miles in diameter, especially 

 attracted my attention owing to the occasional 

 patches of bright green fresh grass scattered over 

 it — a likely place for sheep. I accordingly sat down 

 to spy, and soon discovered a herd of rams feeding 



