MONGOLIAN ARGALI 207 



sheep was trotting slowly down the hillside in our di- 

 rection. Why he did not see or smell us, I cannot 

 imagine, for the. wind was in his direction. But he 

 came on, passed within one hundred feet, and stopped 

 on the summit of the opposite swell. What a shot! 

 He was so close that I could have counted the rings on 

 his horns and they were good horns, too, just the size 

 we wanted for the group. But the hunter would not 

 let me shoot. His heart was set upon the big ram 

 peacefully sleeping a mile away. 



"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" is a 

 motto which I have followed with good success in hunt- 

 ing, and I was loath to let that argali go even for the 

 prospect of the big one across the valley. But I had 

 a profound respect for the opinion of my hunter. He 

 usually guessed right, and I had found it safe to fol- 

 low his advice. 



So we watched the sheep walk slowly over the crest 

 of the hill. The Mongol did not tell me then, but he 

 knew that the animal was on his way to join the others, 

 and his silence cost us the big ram. You may wonder 

 how he knew it. I can only answer that what that* 

 Mongol did not know about the ways of sheep was not 

 worth learning. He seemed to think as the sheep 

 thought, but, withal, was a most intelligent and delight- 

 ful companion. His ready sympathy, his keen humor, 

 and his interest in helping me get the finest specimens 

 of the animals I wanted, endeared him to me in a way 

 which only a sportsman can understand. His Shansi 

 dialect and my limited Mandarin made a curious com- 



