SHOOTING avis POLII ON THE PAMIRS 



59 



The valle) s of the Gonroumdi and Sassik rivers, west of ihe Akbaital 

 river, hold some Ovis. They are not common in summer all alono- 

 the Aksu, but the neighbouring hills on the northern, eastern, and 

 southern sides of the great Victoria lake, are full of Ovis. 



When I got there from the west after a long and useless search 

 near the Yashil Kul I had a spell of bad. weather. A snow storm 

 obliged me to stop and wait for several days on the Karasu river. But 

 as it was bitterly cold and snowing hard, I thought the game would 

 come down into the valleys, and so they did. One day from my tent 

 I could see a herd of about 120 on the hill close by. Everythino- 

 was covered with snow and they were moving slowlv down, I went 

 to watch them, but could not find anything worth shooting amongst 

 the whole lot, so I left them alone. Another day on the south side of 

 the great Pamir lake, I left my camp in very bad weather, the wind was 

 blowing hard and the snow falling. It was bitterly cold, and it was 

 almost impossible to see as the clouds were low everywhere except 

 from time to time for a few minutes. But it was a grand day as the 

 game was swarming. I saw certainly 600 Ovis that day and came 

 back with five heads tied to our saddles — the grandest day of sport I had 

 in my life. We went all day without eating, as we had nothino-. The 

 weather was so bad we had not been able to light a fire for four days ; 

 but the arkars were lower down and it was an opportunity not to be lost. 

 I saw one herd of twenty-three big rams together, but they saw us 

 when the clouds opened all at once and went away at a rattlino- pace 

 over the plain. I visited several nullahs and had to cross a ridge 

 about 17,300 feet — the most trying thing I have ever done — although 

 I went higher sometimes, but the wind was on this occasion bio win o- 

 straight in our faces. The clouds were so dense that it was impossible 

 to see more than a few feet in front, and the cold was terrible. I 

 thought we should have had to give up and die on the pass, but as 

 soon as we had crossed it, we felt warmer as the wind was neither so 

 strong nor so cold a little lower down. After crossing this pass I 

 made a right and left at two big rams, so we were fully rewarded. 



Near the Benderski pass there are some Ovis and all alono- the 



Tagdumbash on the north side, but the Hindukoush is too diflBcult 



for them and there is not a single one south of this chain of mountains. 



As a rule. Ovis polii are not at all fond of difficult and rocky 



mountains. Their true ground is the long rolling plateau or the 



