230 DONG (WILD YAK) SHOOTING 



shoulder when he loomed against the sky-line as big as 

 a haystack, but the fluster I was in at the moment may 

 be imagined — this huge target was only eighty yards off, 

 and I was within six inches of missing it altogether. 



I fired my last shot at wild yak on the 16th August. 

 I had bagged three — and lost one through my own 

 foolishness. I began the hunt on the 10 th. I think this 

 is a record that has not been touched yet — three wild 

 bulls in six days. I might have continued for another 

 fortnight and collected a good supply of these enormous 

 heads ; but for what end ? The hunting and stalking are 

 the most exciting in the world ; the climate, the ground, 

 and its surroundings the most trying. The chase of the 

 wild dong, therefore, must be classed amongst the severest 

 tests of a sportsman's quality ; but a bag of three good 

 bulls quite satisfied me. I have a horror of big bags — 

 an unconquerable disgust at my own butcherliness comes 

 over me when I stand over a noble animal that has been 

 slain by my own hand : this feeling increases with every 

 trophy added to my collection, till it forces me to drop the 

 pursuit of that particular game and follow something 

 else. In the present instance remorse got the better 

 of me after the third bull, and I left the travelling trail of 

 the wild yaks to pick up a couple of antelope heads in 

 another part of the valley. The escape of the wounded 

 bull haunted me and made me unhappy for several days, 

 though I spent some precious time trying to retrieve him ; 

 he crossed the range of mountains to the north, and must 

 have made his way to the Great Plain beyond, and died 

 in lingering misery. May I be forgiven ! 



The head of the second bull (the murderer) weighed 

 only 84 lbs., and the horns were 29 inches in length. The 

 third bull's head weighed 94 lbs., and the horns were 30 

 inches long. 



