THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 405 



be seen on referring to Rowland W^ard's Records of Big Game. 

 Stalking is naturally the only possible way of securing them. 



Capra sibirica is also found on the Pamirs, and all over the 

 mountain ranges of Central Asia, from the Altai to the Himalayas, 

 living amongst the more inaccessible crags, and, except- 

 ing at early dawn or at niohtfall, seldom appearing in ^., . . 

 ^ ^ .-> ' vv ^ Sibirica. 



the open. The Kashmir kel, the Turkestan teke, and 

 the Altai boun appear to be all referable to Capra sibirica, yet it is 

 still an open question whether they differ in any way from one another. 

 I was lucky enough to secure a couple of them in the Altai in 1897, 

 both heads measuring close upon forty inches, and they certainly 

 afforded first-rate sport, though their sight is not nearly so keen as 

 that of wild sheep. In fact, I once found myself on horseback within 

 300 yards of a herd of these ibex, and had time to dismount and 

 conceal my pony without being noticed by them. In the district of 

 Semiretchinsk (Southern Siberia) the mountains in the neighbourhood 

 of Vernoje contain a species of wild sheep {Ovis kare/ini), probably 

 closely akin to those found by Littledale in the low ranges of hills 

 round Lake Zaisan. According- to Littledale's statements, these 

 sheep, contrary to the usual habit of wild sheep, trust almost entirely 

 to concealment. I quote his words : " The sheep's habit of dis- 

 appearing in cavities and under rocks from 10 a.m. until evening" made 

 the sport less interesting than the pursuit of Ovis poli, which is 

 always ' on view,' and even when hard hit the extraordinary vitality of 

 the beast not infrequently enables him to escape the hunter." Most 

 of the specimens Littledale secured were "jumped " by him at a few 

 yards' distance out of such natural pits or hollows as he fortunately 



