SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS 549 



small ranges as far as the Maili-Barlik group. This is 

 also its eastern limit. How far its range extends west- 

 wards along the Tarbagatai seems to be imperfectly 

 known. Wild-sheep exist in the low mountains to the 

 north of Balkash, but whether they are Ovis sairensis 

 or Ovis nigrimontana is a question which requires in- 

 vestigating. 



The head of the river Kosho, which divides the 

 Barlik from the Maili, runs through a broad, grassy upland, 

 thickly dotted with ancient burial-mounds. It is here 

 that the Chief of the Western Kirei had his headquarters. 



Early one afternoon, under the guidance of a herds- 

 man, we reached his residence, and lost no time in paying 

 our respects. 



Instead of the usual picturesque group of yurts we 

 found ourselves confronted by a high, mud-built en- 

 closure, which had a formidable iron door. Inside the 

 walls was a low building of Russian type, containing 

 the living rooms and a store-room. Most of the re- 

 maining space was occupied by two large yurts, used 

 for the kitchen and servants' quarters. 



The great man and his family received us at the 

 entrance to his house. It was with the utmost difficulty 

 that we maintained a dignified demeanour, for the great- 

 ness of his position had spread to his person in an alarming 

 degree. He must have weighed a clear twenty stone, 

 and his corpulency was accentuated by a voluminous 

 Kirghiz costume. His first wife ran him pretty close, 

 and his sons and daughters showed great promise. 



Tea and sweetmeats were placed before us in a room 

 gaudily decorated with carpets, — some of them old and 

 good, — many-hued tin boxes, and trashy goods from the 

 Chuguchak bazaar. Somehow the whitewashed room 



