Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/96

 head, heart, or lungs. In any other case the dzeren escapes, although perhaps mortally wounded, and is often lost to the hunter, for it runs faster with a broken leg than a good horse can gallop. For this sport you must have a rifle with a long point-blank range, because it is almost impossible to judge distances accurately in the steppe. You must have a rest for your rifle, such as the native sportsmen of Siberia use, otherwise you will be apt to find that, after having walked quickly for a considerable distance, your hand is shaky just when you want to take your aim! In fact on entering the deserts of Asia the sportsman must lay aside his European experiences and learn a great deal from the native hunters.

The Mongols, armed with their poor matchlocks, hunt the dzerens in the following way. In those parts of the steppe where antelope abound they dig small pits at certain distances apart. These holes at first excite mistrust, so the animals are left alone for some weeks to get used to them. The hunters then repair to their allotted stations, and conceal themselves in the pits, while others make a wide circuit to windward driving the herd towards the ambush, and no gun is fired till they are within a distance of fifty paces or even less. The drivers must know their business and be thoroughly familiar with the habits of the animal, otherwise their labour will be lost. They must never gallop suddenly up to the herd, because if they do the antelope almost always escape. The usual plan is to make a circuit