YAK-STALKING. 195 



legs, and consequently we never once had an op- 

 portunity of yak-hunting on horseback. 



But even on foot it was fine sport ! Armed with 

 our breech-loaders, my companion and I would start 

 from our yurta early in the morning in pursuit of 

 the game. The huge beasts might easily be seen 

 through a field-glass, more than a mile off, but one 

 is very liable to take lumps of rock for so many yaks 

 conchant. They were so plentiful on the Baian- 

 kara-ula and on the banks of the Murui-ussu that 

 we could generally see them grazing within a short 

 distance of our camp. 



They are more easily stalked than any other wild 

 animal we know, and so defective are their sight and 

 hearing that you may get within 300 paces of them 

 in the open without difficulty ; and single bulls (but 

 not herds) will allow the sportsman to approach 

 nearer still, even though they have noticed him in 

 the distance. Never having been hunted, and con- 

 fident in their own strength, they show no signs of 

 fear at the approach of a man, but look him steadily 

 in the face, lashing their sides with their bushy tails, 

 or curving them over their backs, to express their 

 anger at being disturbed. 



If the hunter continue to advance the yak retires, 

 stopping every now and then to look round in the 

 direction of its pursuer, but when once alarmed by 

 the report of a gun, or лvounded, they will run for 

 hours without stopping. 



You may occasionally get within fifty paces of 



