MONGOLIAN ARGALI 217 



the first day, but one of them was marred by a broken 

 tip. The old warrior must have weathered nearly a 

 score of winters and have had many battles. But his 

 new coat was thick and fine — ^the most beautiful of any 

 we had seen. As he lay in the bottom of the valley I 

 was impressed again by the enormous size of an argon's 

 body. There was an excellent opportunity to com- 

 pare it with a donkey's, for before we had finished our 

 smoke, a Mongol arrived driving two animals before 

 him. The sheep was about one-third larger than the 

 donkey, and with his tremendous neck and head must 

 have weighed a great deal more. 



After the ram had been skinned Tom and I left 

 the men to pack in the meat, skin, and head, while we 

 climbed to the summit of the pass and wandered slowly 

 home in the twilight. Major Barker came in shortly 

 after we reached the village. Pe was almost done, for 

 his man had taken him into the rough country north 

 of camp. A strenuous day for a man just from the 

 city, but Barker was enthusiastic. Even though he had 

 not killed a ram, he had wounded one in the leg and 

 had counted twenty sheep — ^more than either Harry or 

 I had seen during the entire time we had been at Wu- 

 shi-tu. 



When we awoke at five o'clock in the morning, Tom 

 stretched himself very gingerly and remarked that the 

 only parts of him which weren't sore were his eyelids ! 

 Harry was still hors de combat with the strained ten- 

 don in his leg, and I had the beginning of an attack of 

 influenza. Barker admitted that his joints "creaked" 



