122 MORE BIG BUCKS. 



to a small sheltered plateau where we intended to bivouac 

 for the night. 



Towards evening, as we sat preparing the head, a man I 

 had sent up to watch what remained of the dead ibex in 

 case of a bear getting a sniff of the meat came tearing- 

 down the hill, gesticulating as he ran, and, on Hearing us, 

 breathlessly ejaculating " Khel ! khel ! " When his excite- 

 ment became more subdued, we learnt from him that he had 

 seen a large herd of ibex on the hillside above, and only 

 about half a mile off. Sharp is the word. The covers are 

 at once slipped off the rifles, and we are not long in reach- 

 ing the place whence the animals had been sighted, when, 

 sure enough, there they are, about sixteen in number, and 

 two of them grand bucks ; but the ground is bad for 

 approaching them. As they are feeding towards us, we 

 wait patiently there until, at length, a keen cold wind most 

 opportunely begins to blow towards us, driving them all 

 down for shelter into an intervening corrie, and bringing 

 them within a longish range of our position. During all 

 this time Ramzan, in half -suppressed pious expressions, 

 keeps incessantly imploring the assistance of the Prophet. 

 But now one of the does, becoming suspicious of danger, 

 gives her warning note. There is no use in waiting longer, 

 as the whole herd at once begins moving slowly off; so I 

 single out the finer of the two big bucks, which in a few 

 seconds falls rolling and struggling down the hillside. 

 " Shabash ! " (bravo) exclaims Eamzan. " Now for the 

 other big one." A bullet speeds after him, but from want 

 of " straight powder " he gets off uninjured. The men are 

 determined this time not to lose their spoils, for they reach 

 the fallen buck almost before the echoes of the last shot 

 cease rolling and reverberating among the crags and preci- 

 pices, when they bleed him with all due form. Leaving 

 two men who had followed us to break up the ibex, Eamzan 

 and I descend to our bivouac, from whence we send them a 

 flaming pine-torch to light them down after finishing their 

 work, for by this time it has grown almost dark. 



