THE GAME OF THE PLAINS 603 



frozen stream. We were soon all sipping tea in front of 

 a blazing fire, which made our faces tingle and the water 

 drip from our snow-covered garments. The kulon was 

 with us inside the house in company with several calves. 

 It was perfectly docile, but had stubbornly resisted every 

 effort on the part of its captors to break it to the saddle. 

 Two years previously these two Chantos had surprised a 

 herd of mares and young among some low hills. Gallop- 

 ing down upon them, they had captured one of the foals, 

 then only a day or two old, and had brought it up on 

 goats'-milk. Though I offered the men a considerable 

 sum for it, they would not part. I should have liked 

 to have taken it home to England, and to have given it 

 to the Zoological Society, where this variety of wild-ass 

 is unrepresented, though I doubt if it would have sur- 

 vived the long journey to India. 



On the following morning I took several photographs 

 of it. From the roof of the house I spotted a large herd 

 of kulon, but they were on such fiat country that it 

 was not worth while attempting to approach them, and 

 I contented myself with a long look through the telescope. 

 I decided, on the suggestion of our hosts, to return to 

 Yandzhikhai through some low hills, where there were 

 said to be sheep at this season. To my great sur- 

 prise we did see several sheep, one or two carrying 

 quite good heads, but, though the formation of the 

 ground was very suitable for stalking, I failed to shoot 

 one, the reason being that, thinking we should not be 

 likely to see anything worth a shot, I had donned a pair 

 of Russian felt boots, to keep my feet warm while riding. 

 Though they are about the best footgear for that 

 purpose, they are quite the worst in which to climb 

 steep, snow-covered slopes. Judging by the shape of 



