It
was a Kirghiz burying-ground." (Pp. 223, 229, 231)
[With reference to Wood's remark that the horns of the Ovis Poli supply
shoes for the Kirghiz horses, Mr. Rockhill writes to me that a Paris
newspaper of 24th November, 1894, observes: "Horn shoes made of the horn
of sheep are successfully used in Lyons. They are especially adapted to
horses employed in towns, where the pavements are often slippery. Horses
thus shod can be driven, it is said, at the most rapid pace over the worst
pavement without slipping."
(Cf. Rockhill, Rubruck, p. 69; Chasses et Explorations dans la Region
des Pamirs, par le Vte. Ed. de Poncins, Paris, 1897, 8vo. - H. C.).]
[Illustration: Ovis Poli, the Great Sheep of Pamir. (After Severtsof.)
"El hi a grant montitude de monton sauvages qe sunt grandisme, car out lee
cornes bien six paumes"....]
In 1867 this great sheep was shot by M. Severtsof, on the Plateau of
Aksai, in the western Thian Shan. He reports these animals to go in great
herds, and to be very difficult to kill. However, he brought back two
specimens. The Narin River is stated to be the northern limit of the
species.[5] Severtsof also states that the enemies of the Ovis Poli are
the wolves, [and Colonel Gordon says that the leopards and wolves prey
almost entirely upon them.
