16 



WILD SHEEP. 



increasingly sacred to him. That head becomes a fetish, and all his life 

 his hearti'will boat quicker and the hot blood go surging through his 

 bemg, as he recalls the memory of those days of toil, hours of almost 

 agoni/.ed stalking and that final supreme age-long mnmcnt of suspense- 

 as he took aim, ]>iessed the trigger and awaited the result of his death- 

 messenger. And who can describe the agony, the tenable stmging 

 regret, that must last a lifetime, when that proud head, held high as 

 ever, is born swiftly away and away never more to be seen except m 

 bitter memory? That is sheep hunting. 



To the Pamirs, to the Eocky :\fountains, to the Himalayas and 

 the Altai, men have gone in search of wild sheep, the wariest of all 

 game. Thr(jugh privation, harjslii]i, toil aTid exposure they have 

 attained their ambitious, and many a fine liead, gracing a stately hall, 

 tells the storv of their endeavours. 



It has fallen to the lut of but few Europeans to shoot the wild 

 sheej) of Ndrth (.'hina. The animal itself is undoubtedly the rarest of 

 its kind iidiabitiug but a few isolated areiis. It is being driven out by 

 the great noTtli\\ard flow of Chinese settlers, tluit is also driving bade 

 the Mongols. 



It is mercilessly hunted by the natives, while there have been 

 Europeans who have not been above tiiking unreasonably hea\y toll 

 from its fast dirninisliing numbers. One man, has gone so far as to 



