More about the Bujnurd Sheep 205 



bounds, as if disturbed ; then the whole herd got 

 on their feet and moved a few yards down to- 

 wards us ; but by whatever cause, their alarm 

 was short-lived, and once more they became a red- 

 brown patch of somnolent sheep on the hill-face. 

 When it grew late, and the ravine was thrown 

 into deep shadow, I determined to go round, 

 feeling sure that by the time the move was accom- 

 plished the sheep would have begun grazing, or 

 be moving down to water. We were out of sight 

 of the herd for half an hour before we crept 

 through some juniper bushes, to the top of the 

 little spur I have mentioned, within shot-gun 

 range of where the rams had lain all day. As we 

 did so, a panther glided from in front of us like 

 a shadow. Presumably, he too had been spend- 

 ing an exasperating afternoon. But the sheep had 

 gone. 



After some desperate looking about, we dis- 

 covered them far below us in a deep winding 

 valley, going down to water. We followed, a 

 trifle hurriedly perhaps it was getting late and 

 I suppose we must have shown ourselves. Any- 

 how, as we looked round a turn in the rarine, 

 instead of finding them almost in shot, as we 

 expected, we saw them instead going hard up a 

 distant hill, and evidently meaning going. I 

 never found that splendid herd again. 



