408 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN TEE FAR WEST. 



fired, and felt a great sense of relief on hearing the deto- 

 nation. When the smoke cleared away I saw him bound- 

 ing away to the north at a tremendous rate, and evidently 

 thoroughly scared, if not hurt. I was almost sure I had 

 hit him; but his pace seemed to give a contradiction to 

 my thoughts, and I felt anything but pleased with myself. 

 After gazing mechanically at his retreating form for a few 

 moments, I saw him lie down on a treeless plateau several 

 hundred yards away, and I then infen-ed that he was 

 wounded. I therefore concluded to try another stalk, and 

 commenced that tedious operation once more. By crawl- 

 ing carefully on my hands and knees, and halting occasion- 

 ally, I got within one hundred and fifty yards of him ; and 

 seeing his horns peering above some rocks, I aimed and 

 fired at his head, or, rather, where I supposed it to be. 

 The report was followed by a violent scrambling, which led 

 me to believe he was breaking away; but he had scarcely 

 emerged from his place of concealment before he pitched 

 forward on his horns as if he were dead. On seeing this, 

 I advanced toward him, and laid my rifle on the ground 

 within twenty feet of him, as I intended to use my knife 

 for cutting his throat; but what was my surprise to see 

 him bound suddenly to his feet when I drew near him, and 

 break away for a mass of crags that rose abruptly upward 

 from the mountain a few yards away ! I was taken aback 

 so much at this unlooked-for movement that I merely 

 gazed at his retreating form in blank amazement until it 

 disappeared amidst the rocks. The meditation that I in- 

 dulged in after he had vanished would never take mo 

 among the angels, for I was actually disgusted at my own 

 bad shooting and stupidity; but I became calmer after 

 awhile, and then resolved to have that ram if I followed 

 him for a year and a day. 



Starting out again, I crawled through the grass, wrig- 

 gled past rocks, and craned my neck until it ached, and 

 finally reached a shelter from which I could see the horns 

 once more. Taking a most deliberate aim at the lowest 

 portion of them visible, I fired ; and not hearing any noise 



