278 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



our way two female Ibex watched us for some time, 

 and then disappeared in the rocks. The ground we 

 now sighted was apparently devoid of grass ; sharp- 

 edged, volcanic-like peaks, intercepted by stony 

 corries, and joined together by rocky ridges, gave 

 the country an aspect of solitude and desolation ; it 

 seemed as if an earthquake had turned everything 

 upside down. Sundry plateaux here and there en- 

 abled us to continue our course, and as we reached 

 a high saddle which commanded a view over a wide 

 stony nullah, I spied a dozen female Ibex lying on 

 the opposite slopes about a mile off. Leaving the 

 ponies, we ascended a steep slope over rolling- 

 boulders and shingle, and in about an hour reached 

 another and higher plateau, at an altitude of 1 1,000 

 feet, in order to inspect an adjacent corrie, where 

 Taba assured me he had always seen Ibex and, 

 strange to say, sometimes Maral stags. This time, 

 however, we found nothing there, though we care- 

 fully spied every nook and corner of the rocks. The 

 horses had been led round over easier ground, and 

 we mounted again to cross a large tableland and 

 explore the nullahs beyond. Large patches of snow 

 lay everywhere ; our ponies were obliged to cross 

 them, sinking now and again up to their bellies. 

 Just as we reached the ech^e another herd of about 



