242 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN TEE SIBERIAN ALTAI. 



CHAPTEH XXL 



AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE SIBERIAN ALTAI. 



The Altai — Mr Ney Elias observes numbers of large horns — Major 

 Cumberland's expedition— The way to the Altai— Time occupied by 

 the journey— Expense — Kosh-Agach — Nature of the country — My 

 Kalrauk hunter— The "Happy Valley"— A depressing day— Rams 

 sighted — A wounded ram — My first head— A move into Mongolia 

 — A big ram in view — Officious females — Nature's spell — A desperate 

 race — A terrible disappointment. 



My earliest recollections of the Altai are associated 

 with a small book called, I think, ' Geography without 

 Tears,' or some equally deceptive title, wherein it was 

 laid down that the chief mountain-ranges of Asia were 

 the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush, and the Altai. There 

 may have been others included in the list, but these 

 are the three that impressed themselves on my 

 memory. Subsequent reading confirmed the accuracy 

 of this information, for I learned that the Altai high- 

 lands embrace a superficial area of something approach- 

 ing 144,140 square miles, or, to give a better idea 

 perhaps, " the Altai," as we call it, is a vast highland 

 plateau, intersected by numerous mountain-ridges, into 

 which you would have no difiiculty in getting nine or 

 ten Switzerlands. When, therefore, I am asked if I 

 have seen the Altai, I reply with some diffidence that I 

 have seen some small portion of that country. I have 



