CHAPTER XX. 



AMONG THE IBEX OF TURKESTAN. 



A sportsman's paradise — The way there — A lengthy bargain — To the 

 Oriyaas valley — Magnificent scenery — A Kalmuk Nimrod — A 48-inch 

 ibex shot — Stormy weather — An evil beast — Vengeance — A successful 

 right-and-left — Marmots — The disappearance of an ibex — Its head 

 secured — Extremes of temperature — The luck of ibex-shooting — A 

 51|-inch trophy — Kalmuk characteristics — Another 50-inch head — 

 Flooded rivers — Back to Kulja — Horn measurements. 



Far away in the heart of Asia, where remote Cathay- 

 holds shadowy dominion over nomad Kirgiz and 

 Kalmuk, the waters of a great river roll placidly 

 through a broad grassy plain. On either side fine 

 ranges of mountains rise, and at their foot and along 

 the river-banks small collections of yurts are to be 

 found, the homes of Kirgiz and Kalmuk, who find 

 ample pasturage in every direction for their flocks 

 of sheep and vast herds of horses. They call both 

 the river and the district Tekkes, though the former 

 has a wider reputation under the name of Hi, which 

 it assumes after taking a sudden turn in a direction 

 from north - east to north - west, before it flows past 

 Kulja, and on till it empties itself into Lake Balkash. 

 But it is with one of its tributaries which race 

 down from the mountains on the south-east that I 

 am concerned in the present chapter. Of these there 

 are several, each one of which flows through a land 

 infested with game, the Geok Su or Blue river, 



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