THE NEAR EAST 
they ranged from the north-eastern slopes of Sultan Dagh, south of Ak- 
shehr, to Boz Dagh and other small ridges on the plains of Axylon. In 
these days the mouflon are almost driven out of the western portion of this 
area, and it can only be regarded that the mouflon are worth pursuing in 
the region to the east of the railway. 
From the Boz Dagh they range over all the country to the south and 
east. In the little hills within sight of the railway between Karaman and 
Eregli Mr J. H. Miller has seen them in numbers; while in the foothills 
of the main Taurus, to the south of the railway, in the same locality, 
several travellers have successfully hunted them, and good heads have been 
obtained. It will be noticed that these mouflon confine themselves, for 
the most part, to the rolling foothills and the outlying spurs of the Cilician 
Taurus. They inhabit quite isolated ridges, lying far out in the plains, 
as well as the flanks of the main Taurus. In these localities a wide expanse 
of featureless country forms their retreat and saves them from extinction, 
instead of rugged ranges of high altitude. The mouflon apparently never 
go very high, even on the spurs of the Taurus. Their haunts here, how- 
ever, are of a very different character to those on the plains, for the country 
is rough and broken; the valleys, though small, are deep-cut and sudden, 
and grant quite new and much easier methods of stalking. They do not 
shift their ground, for hunters have obtained them from the same camp- 
ing grounds both in spring and autumn. Yet I imagine that the presence 
of mouflon on that spur of the Taurus, called Ibriz Dagh, is directly influ- 
enced by the high 7,000 foot plateau which spreads itself to the southwards 
and forms a tableland which the sheep can use, if necessary, as a safe 
retreat. It does not do to visit this locality too early in the year, neither is 
any advantage gained by doing so, mid April or early May being the best 
season. The northern range of the mouflon on the central plateau of 
Asia Minor is probably somewhere about Akserai, to the east of Tuz Kul. 
The chief difficulty that the hunter has to contend with is the featureless 
nature of the country, the hard, unbroken skylines, and the presence of 
native shepherds, which keeps the wild game for ever on the look-out. 
Difficult stalking and long shots are the general rule. Apparently there 
is not much difficulty in finding the sheep, they do not move about, and are 
found in the same locality, both during summer and winter. The open 
nature of the country they inhabit allows their feeding grounds to be 
blown clear of snow when the more shut-in and broken country is snow- 
bound. Both the winter months, on account of the exceptional cold, and the 
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