THE OVIS POLI OF THE PAMIR 373 



joints as to make this most glorious and exciting of all sports 

 only a memory for me. 1 



Having skinned our beasts and packed their heads upon 

 one pony, the younger Kirghiz, careless of the possibility of a 

 fall and consequent impalement, twisted himself somehow in 

 among the twisted horns on the pony's back, and so, he riding 

 and we on foot, we turned towards camp, warned by the waning 

 glories of the sky, the dark shadows stealthily creeping across 

 the snows, and the little rills frozen into silence, that the 

 Night King was coming, and that it was well to hurry. As we 

 reached camp our interpreter met us, and I think everyone 

 echoed his ' Vraiment, c'est assez grand ! ' as my first big head 

 was scrutinised. 



In 1888 we had wandered about until we found the valley in 

 which the above took place, and then having discovered a good 

 hunting ground sat down to work, with the satisfactory result of 

 fifteen rams bagged, all but four being over 50 ins. and several 

 the right side of 60 ins. 



In 1890 we decided to try the Southern Pamir, as all the 

 natives agreed that the further south you went the bigger the 

 heads became. But a visit to the Southern Pamir meant much 

 more elaborate preparation than heretofore, and our modest 

 little caravan of twelve horses all told in 1888 swelled to the 

 considerable number of forty in 1890 ; for it was not only 

 necessary to take food for ourselves and our men, but also for 

 the animals, and for each horse carrying a load of baggage we 

 had to have an extra horse carrying barley to feed him. Besides 

 this we took four or five horseloads of 'firewood, for there are 

 long stretches of the Pamir that are absolutely devoid of vege- 

 tation of any kind places where even the travellers ' stand by ' 

 for fuel, ' Boortsa eurotia,' is not to be found. Without boortsa 

 life on the high timberless plateaux of Central Asia is indeed 

 hard, for that insignificant-looking plant affords splendid fuel. 



1 This head was not destined to grace my walls, but is now reposing in a 

 palace in St. Petersburg, her Imperial Majesty the Czarevna having expressed 

 a wish to have one of my trophies. ST. G. L. 



