Evening star., 1895-06-08

u
mems of the great
mountain sheep. with huge horns, known as
the owls poll 1t is found only in that dis
| trict of sky-kissing attitudes which is call
ed the roof of the world" Many of the
| animals referred to were killed at an ele-
walton of nearly three miles above the sea.
These included three .'pikas,' which are
| rabbits of a queer Sort living in rocky
places near the SUBMITS, beyond the line
of vegetation.
DR.. w. L. Abbott, the collector of these
| novelties, may fairly be called the Gordon
Cumming of America Though only about
thirtyfour years of age, he has already
established a reputation mighty hun
ter. The scion of rich Philadelphia fam
lily, he can afford to crafty the rather
costly whim of travelling in remote parts
of the world. He is a seeker of adventures.
his ambition being to go where nobody has
gone and to see what nobdy has seen. The
tiger of India has fallen before his rifle,
and he has slain sirgle-handed the lion and
elephant OF the dark continent. The closest
| squeak he ever had for his life was in
combat with gnu. This species of buffalo
parts its hair in the middle and has enor-
nous horns.
The Pamir. DIR. Ahbott's latest hunting
ground is an immense plateau uplifted in
the midst of the loftiest mountain in the
world. From it radiate the ranges of Hin
doo-koosh Karakoram and the Himalayas.
1t is the great watershed of Asia, from
"nlcn rivers run TO all points OF Inc COM
pass. To the east of it is Thibet, to the
south India, to the west Turkestan and to
the north the country of the Tartars. Shell
tered from the north winds by lofty hills
and having a southern exposure, it is a
bit of the subtropics surrounded by cold
regions. Here is situated the famous vale
of Cashmere, which is the garden spot of
the earth.
Over Unbeaten Paths.
The Pamr is difficult of access not mere
ly on account of its remoteneSs and great
altitude. Strangers are forbidden to enter
the country, and only now and then tray
| elers have visited it in disguise. But money,
which will make almost any road passable.
| helped Abbott. He reached the headwaters
| of Indus, and from the town Of Ladak he
crossed the Karakoram range into eastern
TurkeStan. In the course of his journey he
| paused at kashgar and Yarkand- Many
chronological specimens collected by him
connect in an interesting manner with
| those gathered in Thibet and presented to
| the National Museum by w. Woodville
| Rockhill, at present third assistant secre-
| tary of state. These include prayer wheels,
charms for warding of evil spirits, hideous
| wooden masks worn bv the priests in re-
! Iigious plays. queer household utensils, rugs
| of goats hair and camefs hair, and native
| costumes.
| DR.. Abbott is 4 skilIful trapper and
| born taxiderm:st. Exhibited in a series of
| glass cases at the National Museum is
| of antelopes collected by him n Africa.
| The British Museum offered him high
| price for them, but he preferred to give
them 10 his own government In like man.
| ner he has contributed many other specf-
| mems, comprising skins, skulls and skele-
| tons. Thase always arrive in beautiful coz
| dition, having Travelled, perhaps, 1o.uO
| miles or more. Some of them have come
| all the way from the interior Of Africa,
| shipped by canoes down the rivers and
carried around cataracts on the backs of
ii
perfect plumage AMI all ready for siufling
| and mounting. TO each specimen Eea:
descriptive label is attached.
Some Rare Specimens.
Among the most interesting Of the birds
collected by DIR. Abbott was a new species
| of eagle owl. This is the biggest kind Of
owl known, its wings having a spread Of
| five feet. Another remarkable feathered
creature was a hitherto-unknown relative
of the familiar oyster catcher, with a bill
| like that of an ibis. The everyday oyster
| catcher lives near the seashore and eats
| oysters and CLAIMS. which it pecks from
! their shells at low tide when the molluskS
are Off their guard with opened valves.
OF course, this particular bird, living at
an altitude between two and three miles
above the sea, has no experience of clans
and oysters. 1t is very rare, and the speci-
men described is the only one that has
ever reached the United States. DIR. Abb
bott got two species of sand grouse, which
have peculiar pads on their feet for rum
ming over the hot desert sands of Tur-
kestan and Thibet. His collection includes
ravens, jackdaws, rocks and maspieS-Sev-
eral of them new species. Also he secured
half dozen new species of rosy finches
and ground nutcrackers. The latter occur
only on the high barren lands of central
Asia, near the SUBMITS of the mountains.
They are rapid runners, and make their
nests in the holes of the pikas.
Among the skins forwarded to the Ma
al ,-r,1 If "a
hogs and four hares. several of them rep
| resenting new species. There was also
quite u number Of field mice and shrews
of Cdd kinds, killed at great elevations.
The mammals of all sorts were shot and
trapped. the birds we've killed with small
charges of small shot. Hunters fer scien-
tific- purposes, nowadays. carry with them
little traps of extremely simple, yet ef-
fective pattern. They may be folded up
into such small compass that one can carry
two three dozen of them in a pocket.
Each of them is a mere jaw of wires with
springs; it is set and haited in a moment,
instantly capturing any animal not OF con-
siderable size that NEEDLES with it. Such
traps are serviceable for taking nocturnal
creatures and others that live underground,
like shrews and moles. AS rule. NAM
mails are harder to collect than birds. be-
cause they hide themselves more quickly.
Abbott is anapproached by any other ex-
pIorer in respect to the skill with which he
prepares his specimens. Not only are the
skins of birds and beasts perfect. but every
and admirably packed. The skins are
poisoned with arsenic, to preserve them.
To each skeleton or skin is attached a label
stating the sex OF the animal, the color of
the eyes feet and bill, the date of killing
and the locality and altitude. To these
points are added a few general remarks
about the creature and its habits. Whereas
the typical Nimrod is a pot-hunter or
worse, often killing merely for the sake of
slaughter. the adveuture-seeker from Phia-
deiphia shoots and traps for science. In
i ,+,1I- nhj Of afh hv,1l
ical interest. Among the specimens of this
character recently sent by him to the Ma
tional Museum are stones which HERO
glyphics representing prayers and charms
are cut. Such stones are built into walls
or thrown in heaps OH the roadsides, or
near monasteries in the Pamir. They are
pious offerings of the faithful.
a Strange People.
The traveller in the Pamfr might easily
imagine himself in Thfbet. The religion