164 A THRILLING SPECTACLE. 



the favour hitherto conferred on the wild denizens of the 

 hill to me. 



We had reached the spot where we intended to encamp, 

 which was a small saddle-like flat connecting Gopee Chund 

 with another hill, and commanding a view of a mighty preci- 

 ice that extended almost from summit to base of the former 

 pn almost a sheer wall of nearly 1000 feet high the scene 

 iof a recent landslip. We were resting among some rocks 

 awaiting the arrival of the men who were following us up 

 the steep track with our traps, when I chanced to notice two 

 brown objects moving among the crags above the precipice. 

 They were so high above us, and in the distance looked so 

 small, that we at first thought they were monkeys, as also did 

 some of our sharp-eyed hill-men, who had just arrived and 

 were depositing their loads ; but on bringing the spy -glass to 

 bear on them, it showed they were gooral, so I lost no time in 

 trying to circumvent them. Leaving my companion seated 

 on the rocks below, from whence he could command a view 

 of the whole proceedings, I commenced working upwards 

 along the edge of the precipice, where the ground was fa- 

 vourable for the stalk, until I got within what I judged to 

 be well over 200 yards of the animals. Nearer than this I 

 could in no way approach them without their detecting me ; 

 so there was nothing left but to chance a long shot, with 

 little hope of hitting such a small mark at so great an angle 

 upward. They were now standing motionless, apparently 

 watching the men moving about below ; and their colour so 

 much resembled the ground they were on, that I again had 

 recourse to the glass to enable me, before shooting, to clearly 

 distinguish their outlines from those of the rocks among 

 which they stood. Steadying my elbows on a convenient 

 slab of stone, I took a careful and deliberate aim at the 

 larger of the two and let drive. It staggered for a few 

 moments, and then, toppling over, fell on to a narrow ledge 

 about 5 feet below it in the precipice, close above the brink 

 of which it had been standing. Off this it shot down through 



