HOW WILD ANIMALS ARE CAUGHT 85 
sportsmen, who ascertained their whereabouts by watching 
for the ravens which would soar above them in the sky. 
Grieger’s shooting-parties sometimes disclosed an unexpected 
spirit of compassion in the natives. On one occasion, for 
instance, as he was passing some Mongolian huts, with his 
gun over his shoulder, one of the occupants came out, and 
besought him not to shoot hen-birds, as it was the breeding 
season. This anxiety arose, not from the sportsman’s motive 
The river Kobdo. 
of keeping up the stock (for the Mongols themselves do not 
eat these game birds), but from a genuine pity for the hen- 
bird with her young. 
During these minor diversions the main object of the 
expedition was kept constantly in mind. Grieger carefully 
cultivated the friendship of the chiefs; and through their 
means a hunting-party was gradually got together. The 
aborigines were wholly new to the idea of hunting animals 
for the purpose of capturing them alive. Their expeditions 
