﻿KIRGHIZ 
  PHEASANT 
  97 
  

  

  the 
  east 
  from 
  the 
  Chinese 
  pheasant 
  {P.c. 
  torquatus) 
  and 
  its 
  variety 
  (hagenbecki) 
  of 
  the 
  

   Kobdo 
  country. 
  

  

  " 
  During 
  a 
  winter 
  spent 
  in 
  Central 
  Asia 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  my 
  friend, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  H. 
  

   Miller, 
  we 
  had 
  many 
  opportunities 
  of 
  seeing 
  and 
  shooting 
  the 
  true 
  Mongolian 
  pheasant 
  

   in 
  its 
  natural 
  haunts. 
  Close 
  to 
  Kuldja 
  — 
  in 
  the 
  Hi 
  valley 
  — 
  where 
  we 
  wintered, 
  however, 
  

   pheasants 
  are 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  any 
  considerable 
  quantity. 
  On 
  the 
  lower 
  Hi, 
  where 
  

   immense 
  reed 
  beds 
  give 
  them 
  the 
  necessary 
  cover, 
  they 
  exist, 
  I 
  believe, 
  in 
  great 
  

   numbers 
  ; 
  but 
  without 
  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  and 
  good 
  dogs 
  the 
  hunter 
  would 
  

   not 
  do 
  very 
  well. 
  It 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  valleys, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Tekes 
  and 
  Kash, 
  where 
  a 
  

   narrow 
  zone 
  of 
  thorn 
  scrub 
  and 
  thickets 
  lines 
  the 
  river-banks, 
  that 
  the 
  best 
  shooting 
  is 
  

   to 
  be 
  obtained. 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  its 
  wild 
  state 
  the 
  pheasant 
  inhabits 
  a 
  great 
  variety 
  of 
  country. 
  I 
  have 
  shot 
  

   them 
  in 
  Bokhara, 
  on 
  tamarisk-covered 
  sand-dunes, 
  where 
  the 
  birds 
  had 
  never 
  seen 
  a 
  

   tree 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  their 
  whole 
  existence. 
  In 
  other 
  places 
  they 
  inhabit 
  vast 
  reed 
  beds, 
  

   half 
  under 
  water 
  ; 
  again, 
  in 
  others 
  they 
  keep 
  almost 
  entirely 
  to 
  the 
  cultivated 
  oasis, 
  and 
  

   they 
  swarm 
  in 
  the 
  jungles, 
  thickets 
  and 
  poplar 
  forests 
  which 
  line 
  the 
  rivers 
  at 
  any 
  

   altitude 
  up 
  to 
  4,000 
  feet. 
  

  

  "I 
  set 
  out 
  one 
  wintry 
  morning, 
  with 
  a 
  native 
  servant 
  and 
  a 
  spare 
  horse 
  laden 
  with 
  

   food, 
  cartridges 
  and 
  blankets 
  to 
  ride 
  up 
  into 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Kash, 
  right 
  affluent 
  of 
  

   the 
  Hi. 
  Now, 
  if 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  the 
  shooting 
  is 
  free, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  licences 
  to 
  be 
  

   taken 
  out 
  or 
  keepers 
  to 
  tip, 
  yet, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  one 
  has 
  to 
  work 
  for 
  the 
  sport, 
  and 
  

   the 
  payment 
  will 
  probably 
  be 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  days' 
  hard 
  riding 
  in 
  the 
  cold 
  to 
  and 
  from 
  one's 
  

   shooting 
  ground 
  and 
  uncomfortable 
  nights 
  spent 
  in 
  dirty 
  caravanserais. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  rode 
  200 
  lis 
  (or 
  sixty-six 
  miles) 
  in 
  the 
  two 
  short 
  winter 
  days, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  dusk 
  

   of 
  the 
  second 
  day 
  arrived 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  Kash 
  river. 
  Here, 
  finding 
  a 
  

   Taranchi 
  settler, 
  I 
  housed 
  myself 
  and 
  my 
  horses 
  in 
  his 
  mud-built 
  dwelling. 
  In 
  one 
  

   tiny 
  room 
  my 
  host 
  and 
  his 
  girl 
  wife, 
  a 
  baby, 
  my 
  servant 
  and 
  myself 
  ate 
  and 
  slept. 
  

   This, 
  my 
  shooting 
  lodge 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  being, 
  was 
  isolated, 
  but 
  for 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hovels 
  

   near 
  by, 
  and, 
  being 
  far 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  villages 
  of 
  the 
  middle 
  Kash, 
  and 
  cut 
  off 
  by 
  the 
  

   swiftly 
  flowing 
  river 
  from 
  the 
  Kirghiz 
  and 
  Kalmuck 
  encampments 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  side 
  

   of 
  the 
  valley, 
  was 
  an 
  ideal 
  centre 
  to 
  shoot 
  from. 
  The 
  Kash 
  valley 
  here 
  was 
  a 
  wide 
  

   steppe 
  valley 
  bordered 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  south 
  by 
  mountain 
  ranges, 
  and, 
  moreover, 
  cut 
  

   off 
  from 
  the 
  Hi 
  valley 
  by 
  a 
  barrier 
  of 
  low 
  but 
  rugged 
  hills, 
  through 
  which 
  the 
  river 
  has 
  

   cut 
  a 
  deep 
  gorge. 
  Thus 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Kash 
  valley 
  is 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  shut 
  in 
  and 
  

   isolated, 
  and 
  the 
  pheasant 
  grounds 
  do 
  not 
  connect 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Hi. 
  On 
  this 
  

   account, 
  too, 
  it 
  is 
  somewhat 
  more 
  sheltered, 
  and 
  therefore 
  warmer 
  than 
  the 
  main 
  valley. 
  

   The 
  river 
  is 
  broad 
  and 
  very 
  swiftly 
  flowing, 
  which 
  no 
  doubt 
  accounts 
  for 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   in 
  mid-December 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  frozen 
  over. 
  High 
  banks 
  of 
  ice 
  lined 
  the 
  torrent, 
  which 
  

   made 
  it 
  most 
  difficult 
  to 
  cross, 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  the 
  only 
  possible 
  crossings 
  were 
  in 
  those 
  

   places 
  where 
  rocks 
  had 
  caused 
  the 
  ice 
  to 
  jamb, 
  and 
  a 
  narrow 
  bridge 
  had 
  been 
  formed 
  

   by 
  the 
  blocks 
  freezing 
  together. 
  The 
  river-banks 
  were 
  fringed 
  with 
  a 
  zone 
  of 
  wood- 
  

   land, 
  thorn 
  scrub 
  and 
  small 
  reed 
  beds. 
  The 
  trees 
  (poplars) 
  attained 
  a 
  great 
  size, 
  and 
  

   this 
  gave 
  the 
  pheasant-ground 
  an 
  almost 
  English 
  aspect, 
  and 
  many 
  a 
  bit 
  might 
  have 
  

   been 
  in 
  the 
  coverts 
  at 
  home. 
  A 
  mile-wide 
  zone 
  of 
  this 
  game-haunted 
  jungle 
  along 
  the 
  

   river 
  gave 
  me 
  almost 
  unlimited 
  area 
  to 
  hunt 
  over. 
  

  

  VOL. 
  Ill 
  r, 
  

  

  