The  mountain  sheep  occurs  in  the  Altai,  two  species,
Ovis  Ammon  and  Ovis  Poll.  Ammon  is  larger  than  the
mountain  sheep  of  the  American  Rockies.  Poll's  true
habitat  is  Turkestan,  but  he  makes  his  way  eastward  from
that  region.  The  ibex,  too,  occurs  in  the  Altai.  The  yak
is  found  in  Siberia  proper,  south  of  Biisk.  He  wanders
about  in  herds,  looking  very  inoffensive  and  domesticated,
■whereas  he  is,  in  reality,  a  most  savage  brute.
156  THROUGH  SIBERIA

The  brown  rat  and  the  house  mouse  are  newcomers,
introduced  recently  in  freight  consignments  over  the  Trans-
Siberian  Railroad.  They  crop  up  in  most  towns  on  the
railroad  zone,  but  have  not  yet  become  a  nuisance.  There
are  field  mice  of  a  number  of  varieties.  And,  of  course,
there  is  the  terrible  Ardomys  hohac,  the  Siberian  marmot,
to  which  the  death  of  50,000  persons  in  the  recent  epi-
demic of  pneumonic  plague  in  Manchuria  is  attributed.
Bohac  —  tarhagans,  as  the  peasants  call  him  —  is  prone
to  attacks  of  pneumonic  plague,  and  coming  out  of  his  hole
to  die,  was  gathered  up  by  careless  fur  traders  and  brought
down  on  their  autumnal  trek  to  the  haunts  of  man  to  foster
and  spread  infection.
Looking  at  the  reptilia,  eight  species  of  snake  are  be-
lieved to  occur  in  Siberia.  In  spite  of  much  vigilance,  we
ourselves  never  saw  a  single  snake  in  the  country  though
we  found  a  dead  Columber  at  Dairen  in  south  Manchuria.
Men  who  have  lived  and  traveled  in  Siberia  for  the  best
part  of  their  lives  told  us  they  recollected  having  seen  only
one  or  two  snakes  there.  So  it  appears  likely  that  snakes
can  scarcely  be  plentiful.
