1 76 THE GREAT THIBETAN SHEEP, OR NYAN. 



all only two-year olds. I shot one of them, and having covered him up with stones, pro- 

 ceeded towards camp, which had been moved a couple of miles. In the next wide ravine I 

 found three more Nyan, but as they were all small ones, and in a place where it was impos- 

 sible to stalk them, I resolved to try a drive, instead of waiting as I should have done if I 

 had seen any big fellows. Accordingly I took up my position in the most likely place for 

 them to pass, and sent a man round. 



This plan answered admirably ; the instant the Tartar showed himself, the rams set off 

 and rushed up the hill towards me, and, to my delight, I saw that there were eight or ten of 

 them, some of them with fine horns. I lay still till they nearly galloped over me, and then, as 

 they passed within twenty-five yards, I singled out the one which appeared to be the largest : 

 he did not fall to the shot, so I reserved my second barrel until I saw whether he required it 

 or not. I waited a little too long, and the others were just disappearing into a hollow as I 

 missed a snap shot at the hind quarters of the last. The big one had meanwhile rolled over 

 dead, having been shot just behind the shoulder. He was very old, and bore the scars of 

 fights : his horns were a good deal broken, the one least injured measuring thirty-eight and 

 a half inches by sixteen. 



Next day I had to set out on my return. 



It was not till 1869 that I again had an opportunity of revisiting the Nyan country, and 

 as I had delayed on the way, shooting other game, I was rather late in reaching it. 



Fortune did not much favor me during this trip, and my bad luck culminated in my 

 losing the finest head I ever saw. 



Not far from my favorite camp was a steep hill-side with wide ridges and hollows, 

 running from the lofty and extensive plateau which crowned the summit of the hill 

 to a wide plain, intersected by numerous ravines, which lay at its foot. In the hollows 

 there were rills of water ; and grass and other plants, especially a species of furze, were 

 unusually plentiful. 



Early one morning I was hunting along this hill-side, carefully scrutinizing every little 

 glen as I came to it, and occasionally sweeping the more distant slopes with my telescope. 

 Having reached the end of my beat without seeing a trace of game, I had commenced to 

 ascend with the intention of trying higher ground, when I suddenly observed four rams far 

 below me. Two of them were fine ones, but one was a magnificent beast with enormous 

 horns, which were conspicuous at a distance at which it is generally very difficult to judge 

 at all accurately of the size of a ram's horns. Curving back, as they do, close to the neck, 

 unless one is tolerably near the animal, or can see him against the sky line, I know of no 

 horns whose size it is so difficult to estimate. In this case, as I have said, there was no 

 doubt ; here was a trophy to win which would be an ample recompense for weeks of toil. 

 Under the present circumstances there was nothing to be done but wait : the Nyan were 

 feeding on open ground, and to move from where I was would be to run the risk of 

 instant detection ; I therefore patiently watched them until they moved out of sight on lower 

 ground, when I at once took advantage of the opportunity and gained the shelter of a high 

 ridge, behind which I descended the hill and circled round to leeward of the rams. 



