MAJOR CUMBERLAND'S EXPEDITION. 243 



other rather vague memories concerning the Altai : 

 that there is a theory that here was the cradle of the 

 human race ; that here, in the heart of the mountains, 

 old Tubal Cain forged his swords and his ploughshares ; 

 and that, at any rate, whatever grounds there may be 

 for such surmises concerning prehistoric times, there is 

 no doubt whatever that here, buried in the bosom of 

 the earth, almost fabulous mineral wealth awaits the 

 pick and spade of the prospector. 



It was not, however, with pick and shovel that I 

 travelled to the confines of Mongolia. Thirty years 

 ago an intrepid traveller, whose name is a widely 

 known and honoured one in political circles in Asia, 

 Mr Ney Elias, travelled through China and Siberia, and 

 observed, among other things, the number of large 

 horns of the great wild sheep of Mongolia which lay 

 rotting along the banks of the streams in the valley 

 bottoms and on the steep shaley hillsides which it 

 frequents. Little came of it at the time ; but twenty 

 years later a well-known sportsman. Major Cumberland, 

 came across Mr Ney Elias, and hearing from him of 

 the possibilities of the Altai from a sporting point of 

 view, immediately made arrangements for an expedi- 

 tion there, and in 1895 an English sportsman found 

 himself, for the first time, rifle in hand, in search of 

 wild sheep on the bare highlands of the Altai, From 

 various causes few trophies rewarded his first efforts ; 

 but a second expedition the following year was crowned 

 with success, and resulted in the arrival in London of 

 the horns of wild rams which were described by Mr 

 Rowland Ward as the finest he had ever seen. Such, in 

 brief, is the history of the discovery of the Altai as a 

 sporting country, and it is needless to say, perhaps, 

 that other sportsmen were not slow to follow in the 

 footsteps of the pioneer. Prince Demidoff has devoted 



