OVIS ARGALI OF MONGOLIA 75 



i^reater elevation and the ground less broken, the sheep which 

 inhabit it neither feel the heat so much as the argali do, nor 

 are they able to find such shelter, even if they should want 

 it. as is afforded by the broken ground of the Altai. The lower 

 portion of the hills we hunted in 1889 was of sandstone forma- 

 tion, eaten out into fantastic shapes and curious cavities, in 

 which the sheep sought shelter from the sun, actually going to 

 ground under rocks and in holes to such an extent as to make 

 a search for them during the five or six hottest hours of the 

 day absolutely useless. 



The nature of the ground in which each variety of these 

 great sheep live accounts, I think, for the different character of 

 their horns. The wide sweep of the poll's horns is fitting and 

 natural in a beast whose home is on the broad rolling upland 

 plateaux, and no less natural is it that the argali's horns should 

 be more contracted and heavy, since he lives in a land of rocks, 

 where sharp corners and narrow paths are in the order of his 

 daily life. 



Perhaps it is not as easy to explain the great size of the 

 horns of the poli, compared with those of the argali, bearing in 

 mind the cruel climate and scanty herbage to which the former 

 is accustomed. Added to natural advantages of scent and 

 sight of a very high order, Ovis argali had a good deal in his 

 favour in the land he inhabited ; for, owing to the immediate 

 neighbourhood of a good deal of snow with sun-baked rock 

 and shale, unforeseen currents of air were continually being 

 generated which were fatal to many a stalk, whilst upon stormy 

 days (which were many) the wind roared and twisted about 

 in the rocky gorges in the most exasperating manner. In the 

 highest range, indeed, of those which we tried, which was a 

 regular cloud trap, we were soaked to the skin nearly every day. 



There is still another point in this Central Asian sport 

 against the shooter : that is, the difficulty of judging distance 

 consequent on the clearness of the atmosphere and the general 

 absence of objects by which to test the relative size of your 

 game. As a rule, the shots you get are fired from the top of 



