CENTRAL ASIA 
being 74 degrees. For half the year the Pamirs are a wilderness of snow, 
but the open parts are swept by bitter winds, deep snow cannot lie, and 
the wild game are thus enabled to get at the pasture beneath. During the 
brief summer these upland valleys are alive with birds and beasts, nomads 
and their flocks, all seeking the rich pastures laid bare by the melting 
snows. It is a country to visit in summer, the later one goes the better. 
Up till the end of May great cold can be experienced and newly fallen snow 
is likely to prove an obstacle. Probably August is the best month for getting 
at the game. 
The Pamirs, as before explained, are “forbidden ground’’ to the 
Britisher, only the Taghdumbash or Chinese section can be visited. 
This Pamir lies on the south-east of the main plateau, and is easily reached 
in the right season from Gilgit; in fact, it lies almost on the direct track 
which connects India with Chinese Turkestan via the Hunza Valley. In 
old days this route was difficult enough, but now a good track connects 
Kashmir with Chalt, two marches beyond Gilgit. From mid-May till 
mid -October the track can be depended upon. The actual crossing of the 
Indian frontier, over the Karakorum range, is opened for about the same 
length of time. There are two routes, via the Kilik Pass and the Mintaka, 
the former is the easier, being actually used by laden pack-ponies. 
Travellers from India bound for the distant Tian Shan come this way, 
and generally try for a chance at Ovis poli en route. But during recent 
years the heads obtained show that it is scarcely worth the trouble in- 
volved. Harassed by stray sportsmen in summer, killed off by wolves and 
natives in winter, the wild sheep have retreated westwards, where there 
is less persecution and wilder country. What the exact state of the hunt- 
ing grounds of the true Pamirs are, to what extent the sheep have survived 
the coming of the Russians and the building of forts, and whether they 
are still numerous and carry fine heads — to these questions there is no 
possibility of giving a correct answer. 
A glance at the list of poli measurements in Rowland Ward’s records 
will tell a tale. The colossal heads of 70 and 75 inches are no longer to be 
obtained, even on the Russian Pamirs. The Chinese Pamir has not pro- 
duced many heads over 60 inches for several years, and one is lucky to get 
one over 50 inches now. What the Russians have procured we do not 
know. Officers quartered at Pamirski Post should have had exceptional 
opportunities, for during the winter months the sheep must be concentrated 
into narrow surroundings and consequently should be easy to find. 
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