232 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



I found out afterwards that, in the distance, if 

 there was a decent buck in a herd, he showed almost 

 white compared with the rest. They were about a 

 hundred yards below me among some broken rocks, 

 so I lay and watched, in the hope that a good buck 

 might yet appear. All of a sudden there was a 

 sharp hissing whistle their note of alarm, and in 

 a moment they were out of sight. I wondered, for 

 I was sure I had done nothing to alarm them. Sud- 

 denly at my very feet up jumped a leopard. I threw 

 up my rifle, and knocked him over like a rabbit. It 

 was the greatest luck in the world, for he gave me 

 no time to think about it, and he was the last beast 

 I expected to see. At the sound of my shot up 

 came my shikari. " Is he dead, Sahib?" "Yes," 

 I said, " go and cut his throat, and make him lawful 

 (halal karo)." Down he jumped over the rocks, 

 knife in hand, thinking to find an ibex ready for the 

 knife. Instead of which he jumped bang on the 

 top of the leopard, who was fortunately as dead as 

 a stone. Having skinned the beast, as the sun was 

 getting warm I retreated under a rock and ate 

 my breakfast. After which, as I had been up very 

 early, I had a sleep to pass the time until evening, 

 when the goats get on the move again. At about 

 four I made a fresh start. The plateau I was on 

 was fairly extensive, and was intersected by numerous 

 depressions bushed over pretty thickly in some 

 places. If I could only get a goat amongst these I 

 might make a good stalk. Presently we looked 

 down into one of the nullahs rather wider than the 



