HUNT AFTER RAMS 263 



back unsuccessful. The coolie at last descried three 

 animals grazing on a distant hillside ; they seemed to be 

 ewes, but after breakfast, and when the sheep had gone 

 over the slope, we followed, in hopes of a ram being in the 

 flock. We went down some very bad places and up those 

 tiresome crumbling slopes for an hour, peeped over the 

 ridge, and made a careful survey. No barhal in sight ; it 

 was very disappointing, for the climb had been severe. 

 At last Anparh discovered five barhal lying down on a 

 distant ridge, and sharply defined against the sky-line, and oh, 

 ever so much higher than the point we had attained after 

 such fearful toil ! I examined the beasts carefully with 

 the telescope, a very powerful one by Steward, and made 

 out five splendid rams — two of them with grand heads ; 

 one had apparently only one horn. They were, however, 

 masters of the situation ; we could not move an inch 

 beyond the rocks, where we were hiding, without instant 

 detection. Here we remained four hours. This is the 

 kind of thing which tests the patience of the most enduring 

 sportsman. I was scorched by the mid-day sun on one 

 side and cut through by the icy blasts from the snows on 

 the other, till the rams left their secure perch and dis- 

 appeared. We were just preparing to cross over, when 

 two ewes came over the ridge, some distance below the 

 point where the rams had taken their siesta, and ran down 

 in our direction : we were baulked again. After a time 

 the females disappeared, and at the same moment the old 

 rams came in sight again, and seemed inclined to follow 

 them. So we prepared to descend the ridge on our side 

 and catch them lower down. 



But this was not to be. We were just on the move 

 when Yakiib peeped over for a last look and exclaimed, 

 " The rams are running up again ! " We were endeavour- 

 ing to discover the cause of their retreat, when a flock of 



