180 
THE STORY OF THE WILD SHEEP . 
to which they can retreat when followed by dogs or wolves. They are 
accustomed to pay daily visits to certain caves in the slaty rocks, that are 
encrusted with a salty growth, of which they are fond. The flesh of this 
sheep is quite delicious when it is in season. 
Although the “big horn” was numerous throughout an immense region 
a few decades ago, the advance of the white man has served to diminish 
their numbers, and, like the buffalo, the animal will soon be extinct unless 
the Government gives it protection. These sheep have been seen on the 
summits of the highest peaks in the United States, and their agility in 
crossing crags and glaciers is marvelous. 
I shot a ram in Wyoming several years ago which stood four feet in 
height at the withers, weighed over four hundred pounds, and whose horns, 
measured along the curve, were forty-two inches in length. The ewes stand 
about three feet in height. 
The magnificent wild sheep of Mongolia is known as the argali, and is 
as large as a full grown donkey. A closely allied species is found in Thibet. 
Both of these have many points of similarity with the “big horn.” 
The Pamir sheep takes its name from inhabiting the elevated district 
in Central Asia known as the Pamirs, or “Roof of the World.” It is also 
found on the table-lands to the westward and northward of Eastern 
Turkestan. 
The Pamir sheep, although furnished with longer horns, does not appear 
to attain quite such large dimensions as the Thibetan argali, from which it 
is mainly distinguished by the form of the horns, and also by color. In the 
male the horns, when viewed from the side, are seen to form a spiral of 
about a circle and a quarter; and when adult they are much longer than 
those of the argali, but are less massive at the base. In fine specimens I 
measured, the horns attained a length of from sixty to seventy inches along 
the curve, with a girth at the base of about fifteen inches. One specimen had 
the remarkable length of eighty-two inches, with a girth of eighteen inches. 
The European member of this family is known as the mouflon, and 
formerly was found in all parts of continental Europe. In recent years the 
animal has become extinct except in Sardinia and Corsica. The mouflon 
is much smaller than the other species, rarely measuring more than thirty 
inches at the withers. 
In Sardinia the mouflon, instead of being found on all the mountain 
ranges, are restricted to certain chains, and there they frequent only the 
highest ridges, generally confining themselves to* such peaks as command 
