SPORT IN MONGOLIA. 



we picked our way at funereal pace over ground 

 which it was often as much as I cared to do to 

 ride over in broad daylight. But what did that 

 matter while I had a 57-inch ammon head tied on 

 at the back of my saddle ! What did it matter if 

 I did not reach camp until ten o'clock, after 15^ 

 hours of toil over mountains of shale ! The joy 

 which it is given to the hunter to know is deep, 

 and I was tasting it to the full. I even abstained 

 from railing at Pombo for trying to persuade me 

 to turn back early in the day ! 



It would be easy to dwell at length upon every 

 stalk which I enjoyed during my sojourn in Mongolia, 

 for the details of every one are all burned deep into 

 my memory ; but it would be as tedious for my readers 

 as it would be easy for me. The ammon are plentiful, 

 and big heads are far from being scarce, though owing 

 to the bareness of the ground they are difficult to ap- 

 proach. The extraordinary weight of the horns of an 

 old ram seems to be a handicap in the race for life, a 

 fact which the packs of wolves which frequent the 

 country no doubt thoroughly appreciate. I came across 

 a regular Golgotha one day, many of the horns being in 

 excellent preservation, and carried off a horn measuring 

 58 inches from among them. Looking round through 

 my field-glasses I lit upon a pack of wolves on a hill- 

 side not far off, and counted no less than eleven in 

 one place. No doubt it is largely due to the presence 

 of these beasts and to their carnivorous tendencies that 

 the rams are always so much on the alert and so sensi- 

 tive to the presence of danger. 



Camp-life is pleasant enough, if you are not averse 

 to a little cold, for except for occasional snowstorms — 

 which, however, are indescribable while they last ! — 

 I found the climate fine and dry. The cold in the 



