THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
Hunting on the Pamirs is attended with no great difficulties should 
the journey be undertaken at the right season. Cold weather should be 
provided against by using warm tents, for there is no fuel except “ burtsa ” 
(small scrub with a big root) and the dry dung of yak, horse and camel. 
The only inhabitants are a few Kirghiz, who cannot supply the traveller 
with much more than shelter and the milk from their flocks. An expedition 
should be as self-supporting as possible. When once on the Pamirs 
travelling is accompanied with no very great obstacles, the crossings 
from one valley to another are high but fairly easy, the actual sheep country 
being, as is usually the case, rolling grass and shale ridges. The home of 
Ovis poli , as pictured amid snow and ice, crags, rocks and precipices, is a 
dream of the imagination. But the stalking is difficult by reason of the 
bare, smooth sky-lines and featureless nature of the country. Long shots 
are the rule. The altitude may try some hunters if sudden exertion is 
demanded of them, but sheep hunting does not as a rule make such 
calls on one’s energy, for a great deal of the strain is done away with by 
the use one can make of horses. 
Other details of sheep hunting will be described in the account of the 
Tian Shan hunting grounds, and apply equally to the pursuit of Ovis poli. 
The hunter will not find much else to occupy his attention in the Pamir 
region. Snow leopards, bear, ibex and burhal were found, but of these only 
the latter is likely to be worth spending time over. On the way from the 
Mintaka Pass to Yarkand, towards the east, they are numerous. Although 
not considered to be an ibex country, the Taghdumbash has produced 
a “ picked-up ” head of 55 inches, a truly remarkable size for an ibex 
not from the Tian Shan range, and a very good head even for that home of 
great ibex. 
Once across the Karakorum range the heart of the great Asiatic con- 
tinent lies unveiled before one. The Pamirs are a fine “ taking off ” place. 
From here one can view the geographical and zoological features of 
Inner Asia without obstruction. Out of the vast plains and deserts rise 
one great, predominant landmark, namely, the giant chain of the Tian 
Shan, which stretches in an unbroken line for close on fifteen hundred 
miles. It is isolated on all sides, except where by a narrow neck it joins 
on to the Pamir mountain system. Its isolation has caused it to become 
the home of several distinct varieties of the big game fauna of Inner Asia; 
it has also been the chief means of preserving its wonderful hunting 
grounds from becoming the camping place of every sportsman with a 
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