Ibex and Ibex Ground 47 



made it almost impossible to see anything on the 

 black hillside. Using my weapon more like a 

 gun than a rifle, I fired another shot and another. 

 Then came the last shot in the magazine, and he 

 rolled over dead. 



As to my miss with the first cartridge, I con- 

 sidered the matter and found a splash of lead on 

 the rock in front of my firing-point that showed 

 that the cause was what I surmised it to be. If 

 you raise your head so as just to see over a rock 

 or bank and then bring the rifle to your eye, you 

 will find that though the line of sight is clear, 

 the same does not follow about the line of fire. 

 My first bullet had grazed the rock two yards in 

 front of the rifle's muzzle, and instead of finding a 

 billet in the heart of the old white ibex, had gone 

 singing away over the hill-top. A silly mistake, 

 and I could not even claim the indulgence due to 

 first offenders ! 



We went up to the fallen patriarch. He carried 

 fine horns of forty-three inches that crossed one 

 another behind the head, and of peculiar dark- 

 ness. 



I have heard people talk of the disagreeable 

 smell of the wild goats. It is certainly strong, 

 but to me so bound up with the recollection of 

 delightful days after markhor and ibex, that the 

 adjective I should use would be quite a different 



