CATCHING AN OVIS ASLEEP. 437 



within 100 yards of the ram as he lay close to the edge of a 

 small projecting slope below us, stretched out at full length 

 on his side, with his back towards us, and his ponderous horns 

 resting on the ground. For once I had caught an Ovis Ammon 

 napping ! A slight noise, unfortunately made in some manner, 

 betrayed our presence, and caused the animal to suddenly lift 

 his head and look about him. Fearing lest he might spring 

 to his feet and disappear over the edge of the slope before I 

 should have time to get my aim on him, I foolishly, and 

 against Puddoo's advice, fired without waiting, as I certainly 

 ought to have done, until he rose. Starting to his feet, he 

 stood for a second broadside on ; but as I was covering his 

 shoulder for a second shot, he turned sharp round and dashed 

 off downwards, just as I pressed the trigger, and was out of 

 sight in an instant. Eheu milii! I had missed him clean 

 with both barrels ! Words cannot express my feelings as I 

 watched him going away after he reappeared. Puddoo, how- 

 ever, expressed his sentiments at the time pretty freely in 

 his native dialect ; and could I have understood what he was 

 saying, I might doubtless have heard some rather uncompli- 

 mentary remarks respecting my duffer-like performance. We 

 followed the animal's tracks for a long way, on the slight 

 chance of the first bullet having hit him with a ricochet, as 

 we noticed it had knocked up the dust on our side of him, 

 but not a drop of blood could we find ; so we sorrowfully 

 turned our steps campwards. How I imprecated the cutting 

 wind as we trudged wearily over the six long miles of flat 

 ground between the Lai Daka and our camp. As we skirted 

 along the base of the Dukka hills, we saw another big flock 

 of Oves Ammon away up on the sloping heights to our left ; 

 but we were both of us too done up and down-hearted to 

 think of going after them that evening, even had there been 

 time. 



So hard was the frost here at night in the month of June, 

 that the stream close to our camp, which we had forded nearly 



