142 THE ARGALI. SPRING CLIMATE. 



time the female bears one, or, as an exception, two 

 young ones ; they soon follow the mother about 

 everywhere, skipping from rock to rock after her, 

 and if she be killed, hide close by, not stirring 

 from their place of concealment until compelled. 

 When accompanied by their young the females are 

 generally seen in pairs, or in small herds guarded by 

 males, which at all other times except the breeding 

 season live in peace and harmony with one another. 

 They are preyed on by wolves, which pursue them, 

 and occasionally catch an inexperienced youngster ; 

 but this rarely happens with the full-grown argali, 

 because they are swift runners even on level ground, 

 and once among the rocks they will distance their 

 enemy in a few bounds. 



I have seen the males jump from heights of 

 twenty or thirty feet, always alighting on their feet, 

 and even trying to lessen the shock by sliding down 

 the rocks ; but the stories told of argali throwing 

 themselves down steep precipices, and alighting on 

 their horns, are pure fiction. 



Besides the Suma-hada range the argali is distri- 

 buted over the mountains bordering the northern 

 bend of the Hoang-ho and those of Ala-shan ; in 

 Kan-su and Tibet it is replaced by another closely 

 allied species. 



The month of May, the best of the spring 

 months in other regions, is far from agreeable here. 

 The incessant gales from the north-west and south- 

 west continued with the same violence as in April ; 

 the morning frosts lasted till the end of the month, 



