398 SPORT IN EUROPE 



the Altai and South Siberian species are generally designated as 



maral, and the application of the word to two distinct groups is 



apt to create confusion. 



The Altai maral {Cervus canadensis asiaticus), or, as it is 



commonly called, the Altai wapiti, is distributed all over the Altai 



district of Southern Siberia and further eastwards to 

 Maral. 



Lake Baikal, as well as over the Amur system, where 



it is known under the local name of isubi'a. The Altai maral 



and Trans- Baikalian isubra are undoubtedly closely akin, if not 



identical. The latter are very little known, and few specimens have 



been obtained. It appears, however, that they stand higher than 



the maral, and the probabilities are that they form the connecting 



link between the Altai and American wapitis. They are distributed 



over the Amur district, where forests abound, as well as over all 



the timber country along the coast of the Pacific, as far north as 



Okhotsk. The shed horns that have been brouQ-ht in to Vladivostok 



show a great resemblance in form to those of their American cousins. 



The Altai maral inhabits the woods of that larore district of Southern 



Siberia. They have now become exceedingly scarce, owing to the 



price paid for their horns when still in velvet, 170 roubles {^18) 



being the maximum for a pair of antlers ; hence every Kalmuk 



who owns a gun spends the whole month of June in the woods, 



wounding many a stag before he secures one. The horns are sold, 



according to weight, to Russian merchants, who send them to China 



and make immense profits by this trade. The Celestials grind these 



horns into a powder, which is supposed to be a powerful remedy 



for every disease. The Russian Government has lately passed a 



