244 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE SIBERIAN ALTAI. 



a whole volume to an account of an expedition under- 

 taken in company with Mr Littledale, and I could name 

 a dozen other sportsmen who have shot there on vari- 

 ous occasions since 1895. This, however, is not far off 

 the sum-total, and the head of a first-class Ovis Ammon 

 is in all probability at the present day one of the rarest 

 trophies to be found among the museums and private 

 collections of horns in Great Britain.^ 



And now, how to get there will probably be the first 

 query of the curious sportsman. Those who have 

 serious thoughts of undertaking an expedition will 

 probably invest in a copy of Prince Demidoff's ' After 

 Wild Sheep in Mongolia and the Altai,' ^ or of a more 

 recent work by Major H. G. C. Swayne, entitled 

 ' Through the Highlands of Siberia,' published since my 

 return, which will supply him with all the information 

 he will require, and I need do no more than briefly 

 indicate here the means at present available for the 

 use of travellers. A choice of routes, then, is open as 

 far as Moscow, which may be looked upon as the start- 

 ing-point of the expedition, since here is the terminus 

 of the great Trans-Siberian railway, along which it is 

 necessary to travel for the next 3391 versts to Ob, on 

 the river of that name. No difficulty need be appre- 

 hended thus far, and, indeed, travelling on the Siberian 

 railway may be described as journeying with a maxi- 

 mum of comfort at a minimum of expense. From Ob 

 steamers ply frequently to Barnaul, capital of one of 



^ I distinguish between the wild sheep of Mongolia, which I believe to 

 be the true Ovis Ammon, and the wild sheep of Tibet (0. Hodsoni\ usually 

 miscalled the Ammon. 



2 Published by Rowland Ward. The reduction of versts to miles is some- 

 what inaccurate. For instance, I find on page 36, " 150 versts, or about 

 120 miles." Now, since a verst is '66 of a mile, it is obvious that 150 versts 

 cannot possibly be more than 100 miles. This is an error, however, which 

 the sportsman will easily correct for himself. 



