PERSIA 
fall to the very patient or the very lucky. Persian panthers are, however, 
worth some trouble. Some of them assimilate very closely to the snow 
leopard, while the marking of all I have seen has been different to that 
of the Indian panther or leopard. 
In Persia, as elsewhere, the sheep inhabit more open ground than the 
goats, and make up for it by having powers of scent and sight that are 
perhaps better developed, though let no one think that the ibex is at all 
lacking in these respects! Most of the ranges hold urial as well as ibex, 
and very fine heads are to be shot by anyone with leisure and opportunity. 
They are found both on the barren ranges of the Persian plateau — generally 
less barren than they look — and on the greener hills of the north. In the 
west the urial approximate to the Armenian type, of which a characteristic 
has been said to be the way in which their horns curve backwards to meet 
over the back of the neck; but horns of this type are occasionally found, 
and have been shot by the writer, near the most eastern limits of this sheep’s 
range, in the Himalaya. A very fine sheep is found on the northern slopes 
and spurs of the Elburz, which has been named 0. vignei arkal. There is 
yet another kind — I speak with reference to the shape of the horns only — 
in the ranges in the north of Khorassan. The latter also have very handsome 
heads, rather recalling in shape those of the Tibetan ammon, though of 
course smaller. The sheep found in Seistan and the Kainat, on the other 
hand, seem to be very similar to the urial of Baluchistan and the Punjab. 
As regards the vexed question of nomenclature, the simplest, as well, 
probably, as the most correct course, would be to call all these sheep, 
without distinction, Ovis vignei , to which, if further classification is wanted, 
the name of the district should be added. 
Generally speaking, the sheep are found on the less arid and less pre- 
cipitous slopes. They require grass, and their habits in consequence tend 
to be migratory, as an instance of which I remember once passing through 
some ground in the ranges west of Seistan where every rounded hill -top 
seemed to be occupied by a ram or two. A note was made of the place for 
future attention, but when the time came, only a few weeks later, the 
sheep were all gone. 
In this country game has to be worked for very hard, and the sportsman 
more often than not returns to camp “ clean.” There is, however, an 
elixir in the air of Persia that stimulates, a pleasing sense of solitude 
and romance. Though the business of the day is connected with ibex or 
urial, there are many other things that invite thought and speculation. 
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