MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, 543 
No. XIX,.—A SHOOTING EXPEDITION ON THE PAMIRS.—II, 
(Concluded from page 394 of this Volume,) 
Tt was ten days after this that I fired the next shot, and then it was 
an ibex, not a poli, that I bagged. We found the herd grazing down in the 
bed of a nulla as we were going up to look for poli; on inspecting them, 
and, finding the best head to be certainly under 45in,, I decided to leave 
them alone, as I hoped there might be poli further on. As we advanced up 
the nulla they of course saw us and went up the hill. After having searched 
the head of the nulla and found no poli, I thonght we might have a try 
for the ibex in the evening on the way back, There they were down in 
the bed of the nulla grazing on the green grass again, It seems to be the 
rule on the Pamirs for the wind to blow all day long down the valleys. 
On that occasion it was so, and a stalk seemed impossible. By a great stroke 
of luck, however, the wind changed and blew up stream in our faces as 
we looked, and about the same time the herd was hidden by an undulation 
of the ground. Knowing that the change of wind was probably only 
temporary, I ran down the valley as quickly as I could. Just as I was 
getting within shot the wind changed again, and immediately the herd 
appeared making up hill. My first shot at the big buck wasa miss, but the 
second one knocked him over, The horns were well shaped and slightly 
over 43in, This was the biggest ibex I saw on the Pamirs, but, judging 
from some of the old heads lying about, the horns run very big there. I 
measured heads of 5lin., 50in., and 48in,, and found a very big head on one 
occasion when I had not got my tape with me. ‘he skull and what I 
estimated to be about din. or 5in, of the horns were embedded in the ice 
of a frozen river,and the remainder of the horns, as spanned by myself 
and my shikari, were 5(0in, to 5lin., making the total length from 54in, to 
56in, The horns were absolutely rotten and useless for a museum, otherwise 
I would have had this head cut out of the ice and taken it back with me. 
To have a chance of getting one of these big ibex, I think one should give 
up three weeks or so entirely to them, and try nullas some distance from 
the encampments and places which are difficult to get at, The natives 
shoot a good many ibex. Itisa very much more valuable beast to them 
than the Ovis poli, as the skin of the latter is practically useless, while the 
ibex skins make the only leather that is any good for the pubbo or sock- 
like boot worn in those parts. 
Next day I came across the only lot of female poli saw during my trip, 
The yak I was riding discovered their presence long before I did, as 
he scented them while they were hidden from me by an undulation of the 
ground, Except during the ratting season, I believe the rams and ewes 
are never found together, and while I was on the Pamirs almost all the 
ewes had left the higher nullas and had gone down to a more suitable 
climate for the expected lambs, It now looked as if I was not to obtain 
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