THE END OF THE STALK 81 



it in time. We drew for shot, the lot falhng to 

 George. He accordingly decided to go for the 

 big bull. On hearing his shot 1 was to fire at one 

 of the smaller bulls, which were lying fifteen yards 

 to the right of his prospective victim. A steep 

 crag of rock, sloping into lesser pinnacles, rose im- 

 mediately above the bank of dwarf rhododendrons 

 sprinkled with wild flowers on which they lay. 

 George, the doctor, and Lou-loo went to the left ; 

 I and Yong to the right. Though only twenty 

 yards apart, the rocks hid us from their sight. In 

 Shensi — at any rate, when the animals are in the 

 open — ^nearly all shots at pan-yang or " precipice 

 oxen," as the natives call them, are taken at close 

 quarters. I was, however, rather startled, on look- 

 ing over my peak, to see a bull and two cows 

 lying in blissful unconsciousness of danger within 

 twenty yards of me. The big bull was hidden, the 

 third tucked away beneath an overhanging rock 

 lower down the slope. 



I cautiously thrust my rifle over the rock, took 

 a fine sight at the bull's neck, and waited. It 

 seemed an age before George's shot rang out ; but 

 at last it did, and before my bull could spring to 

 his feet he was dead. I heard a crash from below ; 

 the two cows dashed past me, and as they did so 

 I had a second shot. A calf suddenly appeared, 

 and with it the doctor's final injunctions about 

 meat ; for the roe, which had held out bravely, 

 was almost exterminated. 'I'he calf disappeared 

 behind a rock, and a second later fell fifty feet 

 below me, though I did not know this until later. 

 As another full-grown animal galloped across oia- 

 front, Yong seized my arm and waved wildly. 



