422 A GRAND OLD RAM. 



through the spy-glass at the burrell, lest we should lose sight 

 of them if they moved, until, as the afternoon wore on, they 

 rose. At first they came downward very slowly ; but hunger, 

 I suppose, soon made them quicken their movements, till they 

 got below the snow-fields, when they stopped from time to 

 time to nibble the dry withered leaves of the dwarf rhodo- 

 dendron plants, 1 the only vegetation apparently up there. 

 After making pretty sure of their intentions, we commenced 

 a stalk up to meet them, for it was now drawing towards 

 evening, and we were a considerable distance from our camp. 

 It was a long and steep climb, and all the more difficult from 

 our having sometimes to scramble round, over awkward bits, 

 in order to keep out of view of the animals. 



At length we reached a point where some big rocks pro- 

 jected over the side of a wide gully, into which we knew the 

 burrell must have descended, though they were now hidden 

 from our sight Puddoo, who had climbed on to the rocks to 

 reconnoitre, at once beckoned me to come up beside him. 

 On slowly raising my head to look over, I beheld, within 150 

 yards, and almost on a level with us, a big ram standing on 

 an isolated crag above a deep drop. What a beauty he looked 

 as he stood there motionless as a statue, gazing intently down- 

 ward ! But I had little time for admiring him, as his com- 

 panions were moving on. Owing to the ram's position, and 

 the shape of the rocks we were on, it so happened that shoot- 

 ing from the right shoulder was difficult. I, however, man- 

 aged to screw myself round into an awkward attitude, and 

 taking as steady an aim as, under such circumstances, I was 

 able, fired my shot The ram tottered for a second, and then 

 fell headlong down some 150 feet. The rest of the flock at 

 once huddled together and commenced retracing their steps 

 slowly upwards, but after going a short distance they stood 



1 The bloom of these little shrubs is here a pale yellow ; in other respects 

 they are exactly similar to the Alpen rosen. I was told that the red-flowered 

 kind also grows here, though I never saw it myself. 



