SHEEP. 
217 
Kamschatka, ancl since it may also extend somewhat to the eastward, it is obvious 
that its range is separated by little more than Behring Strait from its American 
cousin in Alaska. Hence it is evident that such difference as there is between the 
two is merely due to their isolation from one another since the period when there 
was a free communication between North-Eastern Asia and Alaska. Dr. Guillemard 
found these sheep abundant on the eastern coast of Kamschatka, about fifty miles 
to the north-east of Petropaulovsky; his party having shot fourteen adult rams in 
two days. He describes them as standing about 3 feet 4 inches at the shoulder on 
the average; and the largest horns he obtained measured 38 inches along the 
curve, with a basal girth of 14 inches. “ The general colour,” writes Dr. Guille¬ 
mard, “ is a brown-grey, the head and neck rather greyer than the rest of the body. 
Both tail and ears are remarkably short. The coat in those that we shot was very 
long and thick, almost like that of a reindeer; but autumn was well advanced, 
and I have no doubt that in summer it is much thinner. It was curious that we 
should not only never have shot, but never even have seen, the females. All those 
that fell to -our rifles were rams of (as far as we could judge) from three to six 
years old. Whether the females always herd together or only at certain seasons it 
is difficult to say, and we were unable to get any information from the natives 
upon this point. The taste of the meat when quite fresh was slightly rank, but 
upon the second day the unpleasant flavour had entirely disappeared.” 
The Mongolian and Tibetan Argalis (Ovis ammon and 0. hodgsoni). 
The magnificent wild sheep of Mongolia known as the argali (0. ammon), and 
a very closely-allied species ( 0. hodgsoni) found in Tibet, are readily distinguished 
from the American and Kamschatkan members of the genus by the characters of 
their skull and horns. The skull has a much deeper pit for the gland below the 
eye; and the enormous horns have the wrinkles on the anterior surface very 
strongly marked, and their outer 'anterior angle much less prominent, the inner 
one being more distinct. 
The two species, or perhaps varieties, are so closely related that one description 
will do for both; but the true argali appears to be distinguished by the absence of 
a ruff on the throat, while in one specimen in the British Museum there is no 
distinct light-coloured patch on the rump. The argalis may be compared in size 
to a large donkey; and have short, coarse, and close hair, small ears, and a very 
short tail. In the males of the Tibetan species the hair on the sides and under-part 
of the throat is lengthened so far as to form a white ruff, and there is also a shorter 
crest of dark hair running along the back of the neck to the shoulders. The colour 
is greyish brown above, but whitish beneath; and in the males there is, as a rule, 
a large white patch surrounding the tail and embracing a considerable portion of 
the rump, while the throat, chest, and under-parts, as well as the inner sides of the 
legs, are likewise white. The crest of hair on the neck and a stripe down the 
outer side of the legs are dark, and there is also a dark mark above the tail. In 
very old rams the fur of the back becomes greyish by the admixture of white 
hairs; and Mr. Blanford considers it probable that in winter the whole colour is 
paler than in summer. In the ewes the long hair on the back and throat character- 
