THE GAME OF THE PLAINS 609 



them. The habitat of the stag points to its being identical 

 with Cervus cashmirianus yarkandensis of the Tarim 

 basin, on the south of the Tian Shan. The altitude, 

 the dense reed-beds, and the poplar forests are identical. 

 To the best of my knowledge, no specimen of this 

 Dzungarian stag has ever been brought to Europe for 

 identification. They are not much hunted by the natives, 

 owing to the density and mosquito-scourged nature of 

 their country, the mountain wapiti (Cervus canadensis 

 asiaticus) being more numerous and much easier to 

 secure. Their habitat is the whole of the jungle-covered 

 country from just east of the Manas River to the south- 

 east of Ebi Nor. 



The tiger inhabits the same country as the wapiti, 

 though, perhaps, keeping rather more to the dense reed- 

 jungle. It is, however, not entirely restricted to the 

 plains, for in the Kash, Kunguz, and Jingalong valleys, 

 on the Upper Hi River, it is found at an altitude of from 

 4,000 ft. to 5,000 ft. among the thick scrub on the edge 

 of the spruce forest. Every year a few tiger-skins find 

 their way into the Urumchi, Manas, or Shi-Kho bazaars. 

 They are, in nearly every case, secured in winter, by the 

 farmers and herdsmen living on the edge of the jungle, 

 by means of poisoned carcasses of sheep or goats. Very 

 few of the natives would dare to fire at a tiger, with 

 their generally inaccurate firearms. We met several 

 men who had seen them, but they all admitted that they 

 had an absolute dread of them. Wild-pig, which abound 

 throughout all the country, are undoubtedly the tigers' 

 staple food, but during the winter they occasionally 

 raid a farmer's flocks, and it is then that poisoned car- 

 casses are laid out for them. 



During the summer, mosquitoes, the density of the 



