THE GAME OF THE PLAINS 599 



should estimate the weight of an adult male in good 

 condition at from 50 lb. to 60 lb. 



We saw three more saiga, and numbers of gazelle, 

 but all well out on the flat, and away from any cover. 

 As we ate our breakfast on the very point of the little 

 promontory, with no sound to break the stillness of the 

 desert except the chuckling cry of the sand-grouse as 

 they winged their way in towards some spring, I could 

 not help marvelling at the immensity of the view that lay 

 spread before us in the clear early morning atmosphere. 

 Westwards stretched the '* illimitable plains," without 

 the vestige of a hillock to break the endless monotony ; 

 to the north a wavy line indicated the sand-dune area, 

 which we had visited from Guchen, while far beyond 

 was hazily visible the blue outline of the southern spurs 

 of the Altai. Looking comparatively near on the south 

 and south-west, rose the snow-capped summits of the 

 Tian Shan, culminating in the glittering crests of the 

 Bogdo peaks. It is largely the recollection of such 

 scenes as these which fires the nomadic blood in our 

 veins, and compels some of us to flee, for a time, from 

 the hurry and bustle of civilization to seek the solitary 

 regions of the earth. 



That evening one of those terrific dry winds which 

 seem to come from nowhere and end as suddenly as 

 they start, sprang up and raged throughout the night ; 

 everything, including our mouths, was filled with grit ; 

 and it was only by constant attention to ropes and 

 pegs that the tents were kept standing. 



Next day we left the hills and travelled west- 

 wards towards Guchen. While our camp was being 

 struck we amused ourselves with shooting sand-grouse. 

 For an hour or more, flocks of these birds flew round the 



