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CHAPTER V 



OVIS ARGALI OF MONGOLIA 

 By St. George Littledale 



The Ovis argali is, thanks to his richly-coloured coat of reddish 

 grey, an exceedingly handsome beast, but his horns, though 

 more massive, lack the sweeping character which is the glory 

 of the Ovis poll. So like, however, are these great sheep of the 

 Altai and the Pamir, that Dr. Giinther, to whom I am deeply 

 indebted for much valuable assistance, says that to distin- 

 guish between them ' is a very hard nut to crack, and perhaps 

 the only solution will be to find a distinction (if such exists) in 

 the osteology of the ewes.' He adds that in the poli group the 

 horns are less massive at the base than the horns of the argali ; 

 and that the argali has never a ruff or mane. 



It was in the summer of 1889 that my wife and myself, 

 accompanied by Mr. Whitbread and Mr. Cobbold, reached 

 the Tabagatai Mountains in search of argali. Though anxious 

 to help us, the Russians knew nothing for certain about the 

 districts in which we were most likely to find our game, and 

 such hearsay evidence as they had from the Kirghiz I knew 

 from former experience to be utterly untrustworthy. 



Our best chance appeared to be to take a line of our own, 

 and this we eventually did, guided in our choice of ground by 

 the consideration of elevation alone, knowing well that as a 

 rule the biggest ' heads ' are to be found in the highest moun- 

 tains or in the largest forests. Nor had we any cause to 

 regret our course ; for, on our return journey, a flying visit to 

 the mountains originally recommended to us proved that game 



