206 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



other bucks crossed a ridge into the bottom of the draw. 

 It was a sore trial to let them go, but the old hunter had 

 his hand upon my arm and shook his head. 



Passing the summit of the hill, we sat down for a 

 look around. Before us, nearly a mile away, three shal- 

 low, grass-filled valleys dropped steeply from the roll- 

 ing meadowland. Almost instantly through my binoc- 

 ulars I caught the moving forms of three sheep in the 

 bottom of the central draw. "Pan-yang" I said to the 

 Mongol. "Yes, yes, I see them," he answered. "One 

 has very big horns." He was quite right ; for the largest 

 ram carried a splendid head, and the other was by no 

 means small. The third was a tiny ewe. The animals 

 wandered about nibbling at the grass, but did not move 

 out of the valley bottom. After studying them awhile 

 the hunter remarked, "Soon they will go to sleep. We'll 

 wait till then. They would hear or smell us if we went 



over now." 



I ate one of the three pears I had brought for tiffin 

 and smoked a cigarette. The hunter stretched himself 

 out comfortably upon the grass and pulled away at his 

 pipe. It was very pleasant there, for we were protected 

 from the wind, and the sun was delightfully warm. I 

 watched the sheep through the glasses and wondered if 

 I should carry home the splendid ram that night. Fi- 

 nally the little ewe lay down and the others followed her 

 example. 



We were just preparing to go when the hunter 

 touched my arm. "Pan-yang" he whispered. "There, 

 coming over the hill. Don't move." Sure enough, a 



