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They are not the same species, however. In my opinion, they are not wild sheep at all, but true antelopes, as much so as the chamois of the Alps, or the prong-horns of the prairie. Indeed, to say that our common sheep sprung from the argali seems a very absurd theory.
It has very large ears, and the tip of the tail is black, from which it derives its name. The bighorn is so named from its horns; which are of a great size, and twisted like those of a ram. It is called by some the argali, by others the ibex, though differing from both of these animals. The Mandans call it the ahsahta, a name much better than the clumsy appellation which it generally bears.
Those had been glorious days and our hearts were sad as we raced back to Peking and civilization. But one bright spot remained we need not yet leave our beloved East! Far to the south, in brigand-infested mountains on the edge of China, there dwelt a herd of bighorn sheep, the argali of the Mongols. Among them was a great ram, and we had learned his hiding place. How we got him is another story.
The bighorn is extremely like the Asiatic argali, and was for a long time regarded as identical with the latter; but this was an error. It is now ascertained that not only is the American animal of another species, but also that there are several distinct species of the argali itself in the different ranges of Asiatic mountains. Africa has its wild sheep, but only in its northern parts.
The Mitchell takin can be reached from China, via Chungking, after a long, hard journey, over Consul Mason Mitchell's trail; but the takin is about the only large hoofed game available. The Altai Mountains, of western China, contain the magnificent Siberian argali, the grandfather of all sheep species, whose horns must be seen to be believed.
The argali, or mountain-sheep, with his huge curving horns, is seen there; and the shaggy wild goat bounds along the steepest cliffs. The black bear wanders through the wooded ravines; and his fiercer congener, the "grizzly" the most dreaded of all American animals drags his huge body along the rocky declivities. Having crossed the mountains, the fur countries extend westward to the Pacific.
But to return to the sheep across the valley which we were stalking on that sunlit Thursday noon. After the ram had disappeared we made our way slowly around the hilltop, whence he had come, to gain a connecting meadow which would bring us to the ravine where the argali were sleeping. On the way I was in a fever of indecision. Ought I to have let that ram go?
From the huge wrinkled horns, and other marks, I knew it to be the argali, or wild sheep, known among hunters by the name of the `bighorn, and sometimes spoken of in books as the `Rocky Mountain sheep, although in its general appearance it looked more like an immense yellow goat, or deer with a pair of rams' horns stuck upon his head.
Indeed, late travellers in the Himalayas speak of wild sheep that appear to be essentially different from the argali, and other species already known. One species of wild sheep belongs to Europe the Moufflon, which is to this day found plentifully in the mountainous parts of Corsica, Cyprus, and Candia. It was supposed to be the original of the tame breeds; but this is a mere conjecture.
Between the argali and the antelope, we had provision enough to last us for a week at least; but when that was done, what likelihood was there of our procuring a further supply of either? Not much, thought we; for although there might be a few more antelopes and a few more `bighorns' about the place, there could not be many with so little appearance of anything for them to feed upon.
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