3 o 4 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



all night, and as we started, Littledale and I, at 5 a.m. 

 next morning, an icy cold wind chilled us to the bone. 

 The hills were white with snow, almost down to our 

 tents, and I certainly should have remained in bed if 

 it had not been for the repeated assurances of our 

 hunters that we should get some sport. We followed 

 for some time the northern bank of the lake, and 

 leaving our horses in charge of a Kalmuk, ascended 

 a long, slanting slope, out of which rose here and 

 there half-burnt poles of trees. The ground was 

 white with snow, giving the country before us a 

 fantastic appearance. As we toiled through the low- 

 bushes, we were soon thoroughly drenched up to our 

 knees. On reaching a bit of open country, my new 

 hunter and Taba both caught sight of a Roe-buck 

 about half a mile ahead of us. I found it impossible 

 to make him out, and confidently followed Taba in 

 the approach we now attempted. As we reached a 

 higher boulder greater precaution seemed to be 

 necessary, and we crawled up to the top of it, but on 

 peeping over found that the animal had disappeared. 

 Taba attributed this to the shiftiness of the wind. 

 On reaching the spot where the Roe had been seen, 

 we found its fresh tracks on the snow, a fact which 

 resolved my doubts on the subject, and so we pro- 

 ceeded. We wandered through the woods in this 



