342 UNKNOWN MONGOLIA 



a most comical appearance. Their short legs are almost 

 invisible, and, as they make for their holes, they look 

 just like large muffs rolling down the hillside. Though 

 these animals, along with the snowcock, add greatly 

 to the picturesqueness of the scene, they are no friends 

 of the hunter. On several occasions, whilst after 

 sheep or ibex, my stalk has been spoilt either by the 

 whistle of a marmot, whose quickness of eyesight is 

 almost unequalled, or by the weird cries of a covey 

 of snowcock as they sailed out over the valley. 



During the morning we came across a marmot- 

 hunter, a wild-looking figure clad in tattered sheep-skins, 

 and armed with an ancient long-barrelled muzzle-loader, 

 with the usual forked rest. During the summer these 

 hunters wander about the hills, carrying nothing in 

 the way of food except a goat-skin sack of " kummis " 

 and a small bag of salt, tied to their saddles. They 

 rely almost entirely on marmot-flesh for their meat, 

 only occasionally killing a wild-sheep, when an easy 

 opportunity presents itself. 



There are two methods of hunting the marmot 

 adopted by these people ; one is merely to make a low 

 breastwork of sods within 30 yards or so of a well-used 

 burrow, and lie patiently behind it till a beast appears ; 

 the other requires slightly greater skill and energy. 

 On locating the marmot outside his hole the hunter 

 advances boldly towards it at a rapid walk, carrying his 

 gun in his right hand, and incessantly waving a bunch 

 of white sheeps'-wool attached to a stick, or a fox's 

 brush, in his left. This unusual sight so excites the 

 curiosity of the marmot that he will often sit bolt- 

 upright at the entrance to his hole, and allow the hunter 

 to approach close enough for a hurried shot. 



