296 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



mountain torrent, which our Kalmuks called 

 Karasou. Our tents were accordingly pitched on 

 the timber-line, and next morning- we started, Little- 

 dale and I, at about 4 a.m., with the intention of 

 surveying the neighbourhood. My companion 

 crossed the stream and took the country on the 

 right, whilst I, accompanied by Taba, ascended a 

 steep slope rising almost perpendicularly from our 

 camp. We naturally had to leave the horses very 

 soon, and to continue till we reached the higher 

 plateaux. On our way a couple of female Ibex came 

 in sight, and we passed them unnoticed. The country 

 above was broken and desolate. Very little game 

 seemed to inhabit it, and all we saw that day was 

 a couple of young Ducks feeding on a patch of grass 

 in a large corrie below us. The wind was bitterly 

 cold, and I was half frozen when I decided to return 

 to camp. As we descended the precipitous grassy 

 banks at full speed, my foot slipped, and, turning 

 at the ankle, the result was a bad sprain. Luckily 

 we were within a few hundred yards of camp, and 

 though I suffered agony, I was able to get back to my 

 tent, where I lay in bed for the next few days. Little- 

 dale came in at six, bringing the head of an Ibex he 

 had shot, with horns measuring thirty-four inches. 

 He had been on very difficult ground, and had not 



