148 HUNTING THE KULAN. 



to Stalk them on level ground as it makes them 

 more wary and shy. You may perhaps succeed in 

 getting within 200 paces of a herd, but you must 

 still be careful to aim at the head, or behind the 

 shoulder ; a kulan with a broken leg will run for 

 some distance before he lies down in a hollow or 

 ravine. The best time to stalk them is when they 

 are drinking; this is the plan usually adopted by 

 the natives, who kill them for the sake of their meat, 

 which is esteemed a great delicacy, especially in 

 autumn, when they are very fat.^ 



When alarmed a kulan runs down wind with his 

 great ugly head and scanty tail stretched out. In 

 their flight they always follow their leader, generally 

 in single file. After running a few hundred yards, 

 they will stop, huddle together and confront the 

 object of their fears for a few minutes ; the stallion 

 will then advance and try to reconnoitre the source of 

 danger. If the hunter still continue to approach 

 them, they will again take to flight, but this time 

 they will run a good deal farther. The animal is 

 not nearly so wary as you would at first sight sup- 

 pose it to be. I only heard its voice twice — the 

 first time when the stallion was driving back to his 

 troop some strayed mares, and the second when 

 two males were fighting. The noise they made was 

 a loud harsh neigh, repeated at short intervals, and 

 combined with a bray. 



The inhabitants of Koko-nor and the conterminous 



* The ghorkhar, or wild ass of the Persian Desert, is also highly 

 prized for his flesh. — Y. 



