86 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



hawks, so with ibex, there are what people of 

 these parts call "arghuns" i.e., white ones but 

 these are really nothing more than old ibex whose 

 coats have grown grey with years. 



Though urial (or oorial) is the accepted appel- 

 lation of Ovis vigni among sportsmen, it is only 

 in a small part of the Punjab that this is his local 

 name. In Ladak he is the Sha, in Astor the 

 Oorin, in Chitral the WarJcalu, in Baluchistan the 

 Gadh, in Persia the Ghuch, and there are a-t least 

 as many more names for him in the vernaculars of 

 other parts, for the range of country he inhabits 

 is very wide. In Ladak he has been known to 

 cross with the Ovis ammon ; north of Chitral he is 

 found in the drainage area of the Oxus, and it 

 may consequently be surmised that his habitat 

 extends nearly up to that of Polo's sheep ; in 

 Baluchistan and Eastern Persia he is found on 

 practically every mountain -range. Some heads 

 I recently shot near the south - east corner of 

 the Caspian belong to the same race of wild 

 sheep ; and it will probably be acknowledged 

 later on that Gmelin's sheep, found in Western 

 Persia and Asia Minor, and the European mouflon 

 are but local varieties of the one great race. 

 It has been said that the Ovis Gmelini must 

 be classed apart from the urial, from the fact 

 that the horns of the former curve inwards, 



