212 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



be much better to save him for to-morrow; and that I 

 had killed the other two so beautifully that he was proud 

 of me. 



I continued to feel better when I saw the two dead 

 argali. They were both fine rams, in perfect condi- 

 tion, with beautiful horns. One of them was the sheep 

 which had walked so close to us ; there was no doubt of 

 that, for I had been able to see the details of his "face 

 and figure." Every argali has its own special charac- 

 ters which are unmistakable. In the carriage of his 

 head, the curve of his horns, and in coloration, he is as 

 individual as a human being. 



While we were examining the sheep, Harry and his 

 hunter appeared upon the rim of the ravine. They 

 brought with them, on a donkey, the skin and head of 

 a fine two-year-old ram which he had kiUed an hour ear- 

 lier far beyond us on the uplands. It fitted exactly 

 into our series, and when we had another big ram and 

 two ewes, the group would be complete. 



Poor Harry was hobbling along just able to walk. 

 He had strained a tendon in his right leg the previ- 

 ous morning, and had been enduring the most excru- 

 ciating pain all day. He wanted to stay and help us 

 skin the sheep, but I would not let him. We were a 

 long way from camp, and it would require all his 

 strength to get back at all. 



At half-past four we finished with the sheep, and 

 tied the skins and much of the meat on the two don- 

 keys which Harry had commandeered. Our only way 

 home lay down the river bed, for in the darkness we 



