TUR HUNTING 153 



The excitement of this phase ! Would the tur be 

 still resting, or should we face a scene of emptiness ! 



Reaching the edge of the little abyss we peered over 

 anxiously. Joy ! Underneath, quite one hundred 

 and seventy feet below, were three, four tur. Most 

 awkwardly placed — a shot would need to be taken 

 almost on the perpendicular. It really wasn't the 

 moment for picking the best head, because only one 

 head of any kind came within the zone of fire, unless 

 I fell over and joined the creatures. 



I signed to my companion that I wished him to there 

 and then resign any ideas he was harbouring of doing 

 a bit on his own, and to hang on to my coat for all he 

 was worth. He gripped me like a vice round the waist, 

 and very skilfully too, for I had ample room to take 

 most careful aim. His " steadying " was very different 

 from Ali Ghirik's. This shikari had certainly been out 

 a time or two before. 



I fired, a most difficult shot, and the bullet whizzed 

 over the back of my quarry. Like brown gnomes, 

 many tur skipped from hiding-places in the rocks. 

 The grip on my waist never relaxed — a splendid lever. 

 I got a grand chance at a magnificent old ram as he 

 hesitated and so was lost. I hit him fair and square, 

 but off he went, for not once in fifty times does an ibex 

 drop to the shot. I followed up my success with 

 another shot, and this time he lurched forward, then 

 righted himself and passed with his kind out of 

 sight. 



I turned to my unselfish cavalier, whose face was 

 crimson with the exertion of nailing me to the precipice 



