beginning of January, it was the rutting season. The
characters of the ground upon the Pamir and upon the part of the Tian
Shan inhabited by these wild sheep are exactly similar."

The following remarks on the habits of this species are from Sir
Victor Brooke's abstract of Servertzoft's description: "_Ovis
Karelini_, like other sheep, does not live exclusively amongst the
rocks, as is the case with the different species of _Capra_. It is
not satisfied, like the latter, with small tufts of grass growing
in the clefts of the rocks, but requires more extensive feeding
grounds; it is, therefore, more easily driven from certain districts
than is the case with _Capra_. In the neighbourhood of Kopal, for
instance, the goats are abundant in the central parts of the steppes
of Kara, whilst the sheep have been partially driven from these
places, only visiting them in autumn.

"On the southern ranges of the Semiretchinsk Altai, in the vicinity
of the river Ili, wherever good meadows and rocky places are found,
_Ovis Karelini_ occurs at elevations of from 2000 to 3000 feet; at
the sources of the rivers Lepsa, Sarkan, Kora, Karatala, and Koksa
it goes as high as 10,000, and even to 12,000 feet in the
neighbourhood of the Upper Narin. In winter it is found at much lower
elevations."

In a paper by Captain H. Trotter, R.E., read before the Royal
Geographical Society on the 13th of May, 1878, on the geographical
results of the mission to Kashgar under Sir Douglas Forsyth ('Journal
R. G. S.' vol. xlviii., 1878, p. 193), I find the following account
refering to this sheep, there mentioned under the name of _Ovis
Polii_: "For twenty-five miles above Chakmak the road continues
gently ascending along the course of the frozen stream, passing
through volcanic rocks to Turgat Bela, a little short of which the
nature of the country alters, and the precipitous hills are replaced
by gently undulating grassy slopes, abounding with the _Ovis
Polii_.[35]

"These extensive grassy slopes, somewhat resembling the English
downs, are a very curious feature of the country, and not only attract
the Kirghiz as grazing grounds for their cattle, but are equally
sought after by the large herds of guljar, in one of which Dr.
Stoliczka counted no less than eighty-five."

[Footnote 35: _Ovis Heinsi_ and _Ovis nigromontana_ are doubtful
species allied to the foregoing, and are not found within the limits
assigned to this work.]

The Chakmak and Turgat Bel