THE GAME OF THE PLAINS 605 



at concealment long before that. Just when I was 

 considering the chances of a long shot they would wheel 

 round and gallop off, a muddle of tails and hoofs amid 

 a cloud of flying snow. We were told that, during 

 severe storms, they come in among the sand-dunes for 

 shelter, and it is then that they are shot. 



No doubt the reader is wondering why I took all 

 this trouble to try and shoot a beast which is of little or 

 no value as a hunting trophy, and which, at any rate 

 in Tibet, is looked upon by hunters as nothing less than 

 a pest, owing to the irritating habit it has of approaching 

 the hunter out of curiosity, and so warning nobler game 

 of his presence, though in this respect the " kiang " of 

 Tibet must be very different from his near relative, the 

 kulon of Dzungaria. I was anxious to secure a specimen 

 of the wild-ass, so as to be able to prove to which variety 

 it belongs, no specimen having been previously brought 

 to England from this region. 



It was not till July, when crossing the Dzungarian 

 Gate north of Ebi Nor, on our way from the Barlik- 

 Maili Mountains to the Borotala, that I at length secured 

 two specimens at the very last opportunity which pre- 

 sented itself. I can remember that day well, as being 

 one of the hottest I have ever experienced. While the 

 caravan started off on its day's march across the de- 

 pression to a spring in the Kizil Tagh on the western 

 side, my hunter and I struck off in a southerly direction 

 to visit a spring situated at the edge of the hills on the 

 eastern side. He informed me that this spring, being 

 the only one for many miles, was much frequented by 

 kulon. 



Although, when we reached the spring, a maze of 

 fresh tracks in the loose, dry earth made by both kulon 



