596 DZUNGARIA 



he had killed, and how at certain seasons the}^ collect 

 into vast herds of as many as a thousand. He did not, 

 however, hold forth much hope of our seeing large 

 numbers at this season (early May), as there was still 

 ample feed and moisture further out on the plains. It 

 is not till the end of May, when the open steppes begin 

 to get burnt up, that they move in towards the fringe 

 of the foot-hills, where there are scattered springs, and 

 where abundance of grass is to be found throughout 

 the summer. 



Leaving Pereira to make the camp snug, and Carruthers 

 busy setting his traps, Nears and I rode off to an out- 

 lying bluff that protruded into the limitless plains, like 

 a headland into a tranquil sea. 



With the horses concealed below the crest, we lay 

 on the top, scanning the flats be3'ond, Nears with his 

 eyes, and I wdth the only slightly more powerful Zeiss 

 glasses. For some time the antics of a fox, busily in 

 search of his evening meal, in the shape of desert rats, 

 riveted my attention. He was not a hundred yards 

 away, and his method of making the rats bolt was inter- 

 esting and amusing in the extreme. Having found an 

 occupied hole, he would start digging furiously, first at 

 one entrance and then at another, and in between he 

 jumped up and down on the top of the burrow. He 

 was not always successful in his endeavours, but bolted 

 two while I watched, one of which he seized with a 

 lightning-like spring. I was contemplating trying to 

 shoot him for his skin, when Nears, whose eyes had been 

 busy farther afield, touched me on the shoulder, and 

 pointed out over the plain, saying " Iky burkark " (Two 

 saiga). Two white spots were plainly visible with the 

 naked e^^e. Directl}^ one of them was focussed within 



