SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 



at once scurry up the opposite side, when a report 

 from one of our guns would startle them into 

 repeating the silly manoeuvre, which had already 

 proved fatal to several of their number. In this 

 way we made the very respectable bag of six large 

 birds, averaging 5 lbs. apiece. On four different 

 occasions I encountered flocks of these birds, all 

 of which acted in the same way. 



Leopards were numerous in the districts, but I 

 never succeeded in actually encountering one. 

 We tried trapping for these dangerous but hand- 

 some pests, without success. They could be 

 enticed to the traps, but always managed to avoid 

 being caught. A live sheep was cleverly extracted 

 from the midst of several traps, which were subse- 

 quently overturned and sprung as if to express 

 the contempt of the great feline marauder. 

 Tracks in the ploughed field showed how he had 

 walked round and round the group of traps, 

 planning a way to reach the bait without getting 

 caught. 



While up hunting in the highest parts of the 

 range, I came across tiger tracks in the snow. 

 The Chinese in the district said that there were 

 tigers, but refused absolutely to lead me to their 

 haunts, so greatly did they fear this animal. 



Several wolves were seen, and one was shot, 

 but it escaped into a wood, where it was subse- 

 quently picked up by a shepherd. This was one 

 of a pack of six, which, late one afternoon, after 



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