334 UNKNOWN MONGOLIA 



there, and patches of shale on the tops of the low ridges. 

 The whole land, with the exception of the steep slopes 

 facing south, was thinly covered with snow, while the 

 numerous small tarns and boggy hollows were frozen 

 over. 



To my mind, one of the chief joys of sheep-hunting 

 is the opportunity one has of using the glasses and 

 telescope. Owing to the openness of the country, and 

 clear atmosphere, vast stretches can be spied from any 

 elevated position, and game of some kind is constantly 

 in view. I had been lying there for half an hour or 

 so, revelling in the warmth of the newly risen sun, and 

 carefully quartering the country ahead with the glasses, 

 when suddenly they revealed some brown smudges 

 just below the crest of the ridge, a good two miles away. 

 Changing the Zeiss glasses for the telescope, I was able 

 to make them out to be eleven " rams," lying down. 

 However, they were against a background of such 

 protective colouring, and the distance was so great, 

 that it was impossible to say if they were really big 

 ones or not. The old man, after looking through the 

 telescope, which I had wedged between two rocks, 

 pronounced them to be " kara " (black), and there- 

 fore " bolshoi koshgor " (big rams). I did not, however, 

 attach much importance to his decision, as all natives 

 will try and persuade one that game is " big " in order 

 to encourage one to shoot some for meat. 



As we watched, they exhibited one of those sudden 

 panics that I have often noticed among " sheep " and 

 ibex ; these frights are caused by a sudden change in 

 the wind, which leaves them open to attack in some 

 direction. After rushing madly downhill for a short 

 distance, away from that now dangerous skyline, they 



