186 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



lar each on the sheep, so the animals have been allowed 

 to breed unmolested. 



Nevertheless, there are not many sheep there. They 

 are the last survivors of great herds which once roamed 

 the mountains of north China. The technical name of 

 the species is Ovis commosa (formerly O. jubata) and 

 it is one of the group of bighorns known to sportsmen 

 by the Mongol name of argali. In size, as well as ances- 

 try, the members of this group are the grandfathers of 

 all the sheep. The largest ram of our Rocky Moun- 

 tains is a pygmy compared with a full-grown argali. 

 Hundreds of thousands of years ago the bighorns, which 

 originated in Asia, crossed into Alaska by way of the 

 Bering Sea, where there was probably a land connection 

 at that time. From Alaska they gradually worked 

 southward, along the mountains of the western coast, 

 into Mexico and Lower California. In the course of 

 time, changed environment developed different species; 

 but the migration route from the Old World to the New 

 is there for all to read. 



The supreme trophy of a sportsman's life is the head 

 of a Mongolian bighorn sheep. I think it was Rex 

 Beach who said, "Some men can shoot but not climb. 

 Some can climb but not shoot. To get a sheep you must 

 be able to climb and shoot, too." 



For its Hall of Asiatic Life, the American Museum 

 of Natural History needed a group of argali. More- 

 over, we wanted a ram which would fairly represent the 

 species, and that meant a very big one. The Reverend 

 Harry R. Caldwell, with whom I had hunted tiger in 



