THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
snow, both in vertical altitude and in high latitude. They have as their 
haunts tropical jungles and arid sand deserts, cold northern steppes, 
luxuriant Himalayan and temperate pine forests, desert mountains and 
Arctic tundra. No continent can approach Asia as regards the beauty 
and variety of the trophies she contains. The largest antlers, the most 
colossal horns of wild sheep, the biggest ibex are no small inducement 
to the hunter. The “ father of all goats ” and the “ ancestral patriarch, 
perhaps, of all the flocks on earth ” still hold their secret haunts in the 
heart of this great continent. There are the most superb and highly 
valued trophies such as the shaggy markhor and the Ovis poli; there 
are such rarities as the quaint takin, the saiga, the Arabian oryx and 
the tahr of Oman; the home of P£re David’s deer still lacks a finder; 
there are many other trophies that come from Asia still only to be found 
in one or two collections. 
As a field for big game shooting, Asia holds out many attractions, for 
besides magnificent scenery, a healthy climate, far, remote and hostile 
regions to get to, unique and truly worthy beasts to hunt, and all the other 
various details that combine to make a trip “ worth while,” there is, 
besides, a peculiar interest attached to the East which goes far to alleviate 
the arduous, and often monotonous, traversing of great areas of otherwise 
uninteresting country. Historical interest, the existence of antiquities, 
even the decadent residue of ancient civilizations, the remnants of ancient 
cities, tottering kingdoms — the antique living into the present — all these 
are laid before the hunter in Asia, and a wealth of knowledge is offered to 
any traveller who even lands upon her shores. Herein exist the fascination 
of travel in Asia; one can study seriously or be merely interested, but one 
cannot under any circumstances be “ bored.” The labour of travel is tem- 
pered by innumerable pleasures, offering freely to all who travel intelli- 
gently, pleasures such as the perfect camping countries of Kashmir, 
Western Kansu, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and the Tian Shan; pleasure 
gained from penetrating wild and inhospitable regions and contact with 
their barbaric inhabitants, as in inner Arabia, Kurdistan, Eastern Persia, 
Afghanistan and the Tibetan borderlands; pleasures resulting from close 
communication with such amazingly interesting tribes as the Lolos of 
Eastern Tibet, the Kirghiz of the Pamirs, Mongolians and Tunguses of 
Upper Asia, Tadjiks, Persians, Arabs and Osmanlis. The wanderer may 
pass through many ancient cities — Baghdad, Bokhara, Damascus, Delhi, 
Agra, Pekin; he will find the unexcavated sites of others and see many 
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