Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).djvu/110

Rh and never stops for some dozens, or even hundreds of versts. A camel I fired at certainly ran twenty versts without stopping, as I saw by its traces, and probably farther still, had I been able to follow it, for it turned into a ravine off our line of march. One would suppose that so uncouth an animal would be incapable of climbing mountains; the contrary, however, is actually the case, for we often saw the tracks and droppings of camels in the narrowest gorges, and on slopes steep enough to baffle the hunter. Here their footprints are mingled with those of the mountain sheep (Pseudo Nahoor) and the arkari (Ovis Poli). So incredible did this appear, that we could hardly believe our eyes when we saw it. The wild camel is very swift, its pace being almost invariably a trot. In this respect, however, the domesticated species will, in a long distance, overtake a good galloper. It is very weak when wounded, and drops directly it is hit by a bullet of small calibre, such as the hunters of Lob-nor use.

The wild camel pairs in winter, from the middle of January nearly to the end of February. At such times the old males collect troops of some dozens of females, and jealously guard them from the attentions of their rivals. They have even been known to drive their wives into some secluded glen, and keep them in it as long as the rutting season lasts. At this period too frequent fights take place between the males, often terminating in the death of one or other of the