516 SIR VICTOR BROOKE AND MR. B. BROOKE’ [June 15, 
jaws. These places form the most northern limits of its range, which 
to the south-west extends as far as the Narin, the upper Sir Daria, 
and the tributaries of the Kashgar Daria. I found skulls of Ovis poli 
within a distance of 10 or 12 versts north of these rivers, at Ulan, 
on the mountains of Atpash; here it lives, mixed in very limited 
numbers with Ovis karelini, this locality constituting the narrow 
district where the two species are found together. On the high 
plain of Aksai only Ovis poli is to be met with, where it is very 
abundant. Here it usually keeps in the mountains of Bos-adir, on 
the north shores of the Aksai, and feeds on the hilly meadows close - 
to the river. It has, as yet, not been obtained further north. 
*©On Khan Tengri, on the hills of Karkara and Tekes, Ovis poli 
is not met with below an elevation of 10,000 feet; but it is here 
rather rare, as it prefers the grass-covered plains near the level of 
the eternal snow. These plains are about 11,000 feet above the sea. 
On the Aksai the limits of its range are formed by the river of the 
same name between the mountains of Kokkia and Bos-adir. It is 
here, as on the Atpash Mountains, found as low as 9000 feet, 
ranging from this altitude to that of the eternal snow.” 
Habits. —* This animal is not a regular inhabitant of the moun- 
tains and rocks, but of high-situated hilly plains, where Festuca, 
Artemisia, and even Salsolee form its principal food. It only takes 
to the mountains for the purposes of concealment, avoiding even 
then the more rocky localities, as, for instance, the Kok-kia, near 
the Aksai, where I only met with Capra skyn. Wherever Ovis poli 
has been met with, it has been found inhabiting the same localities 
during the summer and winter; the latter season, though cold, is 
remarkably free from snow, the winter clouds being intercepted b 
the lower mountains before reaching the elevations inhabited by the 
Sheep. I saw this species on Khan Tengri and Aksai in small 
scattered flocks of from five to ten individuals—unlike Ovis harelini, 
which species I have seen in flocks of hundreds in the neighbour- 
hood of the Narin. The speed of Ovis poli is very great; but the 
difficulty in overtaking wounded specimens may be partly attributed 
to the distressing effect of the rarefied air upon the horses, which 
has apparently no effect whatever upon the Sheep. The weight of 
an old specimen killed and gralloched by me was too much for a 
strong mountain-camel, the animal requiring 4 hours to accomplish 
4 versts, and being obliged to lie down several times during the 
journey. At low elevations a camel can carry 17 poods with ease, 
but in these lofty plains not more than 11 or 12 poods; the entire 
weight of a male Ovis poli will therefore be not less than 16 or 17 
poods; the head and horns alone weigh over 2 poods.” 
As may be seen by a comparison of the measurements of the Ovis 
polt obtained by Mr. Severtzoff on the Aksai Plain with those of 
the specimens from the Pamir examined by us, the horns are of 
about equal length in the Thian-Shan and Pamir Ovis poli, but 
they are of considerably wider span in the specimens from the 
Pamir. It may, however, be possible that specimens exhibiting a 
much wider span are procurable in the Thian Shan than those 
