222 



UNGULATES. 



thousand feet, but in some districts it ascends higher, while in others it is found 

 at much lower levels. 



The typical and larger form of this sheep is the one inhabiting the Pamirs, 

 while the rather smaller variety described as 0. karelini is from the Thian Shan ; 

 it has been shown, however, that the one form passes imperceptibly into the other. 

 A sheep described by Dr. Severtzow, under the name of 0. heinsi, is probably also 

 not specifically separable. 



In the neighbourhood of Wakhan the rams of the Pamir sheep are known by 

 the name of kuchkar, while the ewes are termed mesh ; but in the Turki language, 

 as spoken in Eastern Turkestan, the males are called kulja or gulja, and the 

 females arkar. 



The habits of this sheep appear to be almost or exactly similar 

 to those of the Tibetan argali. It inhabits, however, a far less barren 

 country than the latter; the undulating slopes of the Pamirs being covered in 

 summer with a continuous carpet of rich grass. The breeding-season of this species 



Habits. 



skull and horns of pamir sheep. (From Sir V. Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1875.) 



occurs in the winter, during the months of December and January ; and at that 

 period some of the herds may be very large. 



Describing the nature of the country inhabited by the Pamir sheep, Col. H. 

 Trotter, who was attached to the expedition under Sir D. Forsyth, observes that 

 after passing a place called Chakmak, on the southern slopes of the Thian Shan 

 range, the road for twenty -five miles " continues gently ascending along the course 

 of the frozen stream, passing through volcanic rocks to Turgat Bela, a little short 

 of which the country alters, and the precipitous hills are replaced by gently un- 

 dulating grassy slopes, abounding with the 0. poll. These extensive grassy slopes, 

 somewhat resembling the English downs, are a very curious feature of the country, 

 and not only attract the Kirghiz as grazing-grounds for their cattle, but are equally 

 sought after by the large herds of gulja, in one of which Dr. Stoliczka counted no 

 less than eighty-five." 



In the Semiretchinsk Altai, according to Dr. Severtzow, these sheep are found 

 wherever there are good meadows and rocky places, at elevations of two thousand, 

 or three thousand feet ; and the same writer states that owing to the open nature of 

 the country, and the good grazing-grounds which they frequent, they are more 

 easily driven from their haunts by the Kirghiz than are the ibex, which inhabit 

 rocky and less accessible regions. In other parts of the Thian Shan, as the upper 



