450 MISJUDGING DISTANCE. 



their composure and recommenced feeding considerably higher 

 up among the slopes, owing probably to their not having 

 actually seen us. We therefore decided to remain here a 

 day, with a view to again attempting to circumvent them ; 

 besides, the dead beast had to be fetched down. 



By reason of the manner in which nature so often assimi- 

 lates the colour of wild animals to their surroundings, it is 

 sometimes difficult to detect them at a distance with the 

 naked eye, unless they are in motion; and the burrell exhibits 

 a marked instance of this. With the aid of the telescope, 

 however, we soon discovered the rams again next morning, 

 though they had shifted their ground to where it entailed a 

 long circuit above to approach them. At length we arrived 

 within 180 yards or so of their position, which was as near 

 as we could possibly manage to get. It was not only a long 

 shot, but also a nasty downward one, for which your sight 

 elevation is always most difficult to judge correctly, even when 

 you have not got rarefied air to take into account as well ; 

 consequently the first bullet went clean over the big ram I 

 fired at. The report of the rifle, from being so far above 

 them, I suppose, had luckily only the effect of startling the 

 animals without putting them to flight. My first shot had 

 given me a clue to the proper sighting, so the second was 

 aimed about a yard short of the same fellow's stern as he 

 stood end on with his head from me. Away they all scam- 

 pered this time, but we could see that the one I had shot at, 

 which had taken a separate line of his own, carried his off 

 hind-leg dangling loosely about, though he still held on until 

 we lost sight of him behind a ridge. We followed as quickly 

 as possible to a commanding spot on the ridge, whence he 

 was again viewed, now moving more slowly over a high tract 

 of bare undulating ground, sloping gently up towards the 

 snow-fields above, for which he was evidently steering. We 

 watched him with the glass as he continued to hobble on, 

 sometimes standing for a few moments to rest, until we be- 



