SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 
independence and lagged in the rear, nibbling at 
tufts of grass along the path. 
All these details I took in as I slowly raised my 
rifle. The leader must have caught the sun-flash 
on my rifle-barrel, for he suddenly looked straight 
up at me. It was now or never, so keeping the 
sights low I pressed the trigger. The leader 
collapsed, kicked once or twice and lay still. I 
tried a second hurried shot at the third ram, as he 
turned and dashed out of the ravine, but failed 
to hit him. Scarcely believing my eyes, I care- 
fully descended towards the ram, keeping a sharp 
look-out, with my rifle ready in case he should 
get up and start off, as so often happens with big 
game. My precautions were unnecessary, however, 
as he was stone dead. My bullet had taken him 
in the spine, just above the shoulder, where it 
had lodged. A hot wave passed down my back 
as I realized how nearly I had missed him. After 
taking some photographs, the hunter and I skinned 
the ram, which, on measurements being taken, 
was found to be 452 inches at the shoulder, and 
554 inches round the chest. The horns at their 
base had a circumference of 184 inches, and were 
43 inches in length, having one complete turn. 
The following day, after a fruitless chase after 
a couple of gorals, we struck camp and returned 
to K’uei-hua-ch’éng. My traps yielded nothing 
whatsoever during our stay in the sheep country, 
from which it may be inferred that that country is 
121 
