Chapter LIV. 



SOME BIG GAME. 



Bears of various kinds are well known to the Chinese. 

 The Himalayan black bear {Ursiis Tibetanus) is, as its 

 name implies, a highlander. But even in Tibet it is not com- 

 mon, and has to be sought on mountain slopes from a height 

 of from 5,000 ft. to 1 1,000 ft. according to the season. In com- 

 mon with others of their family the)' are more given to vege- 

 table than to animal food, though very fond of honey. This 

 particular species is somewhat handicapped by bad eyesight, 

 but what it lacks in this regard it makes up in keenness of 

 scent. 



The brown bear {U. Arctus) finds a home from the 

 Himalayas to Siberia the species varying somewhat from 

 each other according to climate and surroundings. The 

 extreme length of the Himalayan species known so far is 

 given as 7 ft. 6 in. this being some six inches shorter than 

 the record specimen in Europe. In Siberia, on the other 

 hand, specimens have been found exceeding 8 ft. My own 

 experience with them consists, unfortunately, only in an 

 acquaintance with one very remarkable museum specimen. 

 We had stopped one day at a little roadside station on the 

 Siberian route, where, beside the station buildings, was a 

 small collection of stuffed animals from the surrounding 

 country — the eastern foot-hills belonging to the Ural range. 

 The only animals I can remember were a very fine wolf in 

 splendid condition, and a still finer brown bear which looked 

 a monstrous size. What its height really was — it was posed 

 standing on its hind legs — I cannot say, but I am quite pre- 

 pared to believe in the statement that specimens are found 

 over 8 ft. in length and weighing as much as 1,500 lb. 



Turning from the fiercer animals to those of gentler 

 type we come to the Chinese representatives of the wild 

 sheep family. There are several of these, some of which 

 are much sought after by sportsmen. The Pamir Wild 

 Sheep ( Ovis poli), for instance, which has been long connect- 

 ed with name with Marco Polo, is famed for the magnificent 

 horns sometimes grown by the ram. An extreme horn 

 length of 6 ft. 3 in. has been known, the girth of this specimen 

 being 1 ft. 4 in. and the spread at the tips no less than 4 ft. 6jin. 



