1 70 By Mountain, Lake, and Plain 



climbing the spur we were on. He had no 

 suspicion of danger. What little wind there 

 was blew in our faces ; but when first we saw 

 him he was in full view, and if he had, after 

 the manner of mountain game, kept looking 

 back on his tracks, he must have seen us. 

 Eahmat of the Palang Koh used to say that 

 wild sheep trusted more to their eyes for pro- 

 tection and less to their noses than the wild 

 goats. My own impression is exactly the con- 

 trary. In any case, the early morning is a 

 time when all animals seem very much on the 

 alert in the evening twilight the reverse is 

 the case, and we were therefore in luck's way. 

 The ram was going slowly, and by keeping to 

 the ravine on our left we gradually overhauled 

 him. As I crawled the last few yards to get 

 my shot he was uneasy. Some vague appre- 

 hension of danger had been aroused. He no 

 longer nibbled tufts of grass, but faced this way 

 and that with sudden movements of alarm. But 

 what the danger was and whence it came, he 

 knew not then, and he never did know, for 

 suddenly and painlessly he died, the way a 

 beast ought to die. 



We set our faces to the hill again and reached 

 the ridge as the sun began to beat hot on our 

 backs. Before us opened a magnificent vista 



