1875.] ON ASIATIC SHEEP. 513 
rounded edges ; frontal surface very prominent ; orbital surface rather 
flat, narrowing only in the last third of its length. The horns are 
three times as long as the skull.” The basal and terminal axes of 
the horn rise parallel with each other; . . . the median axis is 
parallel with the axis of the skull. ... The neck is covered by a 
white mane, shaded with greyish brown. The light brown of. the 
back and sides is separated from the yellowish white of the belly by 
a wide dark line. The light brown of the upper parts gets gradually 
lighter towards the tail, where it becomes greyish white, but does 
not form a sharply marked anal disk. On the back there is a 
sharply marked dark line running from the shoulders to the loins. 
I did not find any soft hair under the long winter hair in October. 
. . . Height at the shoulder 3 feet 6 inches, length of the horns 
from 44” to 45”.” 
Range.—“ Ovis karelini inhabits all the Semiretchinsk Altai, and 
also the Sapliskey Altai, but is not so common there as in the 
mountains between Tamgali (?) and Kaskelen; but it is partly 
driven from this latter locality by the Cossack sportsmen, and has 
gone to a higher elevation, namely the Kebin Steppe, above the 
range of trees. East of Tamgali (?) (Turgeli?), on the bare moun- 
tains and plains near the rivers Chilik and Kelen, Ovis karelini is 
very abundant, but not on the mountains covered with trees; it 
extends from this locality as far as Santash. Further it inhabits all 
the neighbourhood of Issik Kul; is rather rare on the northern parts 
of the Thian Shan, which are thickly wooded. I also met with 
numerous flocks in the steppes of the Narin, where they find abun- 
dance of food and shelter at an elevation of about 12,000 or 13,000 
feet above the level of the sea. This species is also met with on the 
mountains separating the Narin from its tributary the Atpash, as far 
as the plains between the rivers Kurtka and Chatir Kul; but from 
the eastern sources of the Atpash as far as the Chatir-Kul it is 
found only in company with Ovis polit.” 
Habits. —“ Ovis karelini, like other Sheep, does not live exclu- 
sively amongst the rocks, as is the case with the different species of 
Capra. It is not satisfied, like the latter, with small tufts of grass 
growing in the clefts of the rocks, but requires more extensive 
feeding-grounds ; it is therefore more easily driven from certain 
districts than is the case with Capra. In the neighbourhood of 
Kopal, for instance, the Goats are abundant in the central parts of 
the steppes of Kara, whilst the Sheep have been partially driven 
from these places, only visiting them in autumn. 
“Qn the southern ranges of the Semiretchinsk Altai, in the 
vicinity of the river Ili, wherever good meadows and rocky places 
are found, Ovis karelini occurs at elevations of from 2000 to 3000 
feet ; at the sources of the rivers Lepsa, Sarkan, Kora, Karatala, 
and Koksa it goes as high as 10,000 feet, and even to 12,000 feet in 
the neighbourhood of the Upper Narin. In winter it is found at 
much lower elevations.” 
We have no hesitation in referring the specimens obtained by the 
Yarkand Mission to the south of Chatir Kul, on the Thian Shan, to 
Proc. Zoo. Soc.—1875, No. XXXIIL. 33 
