A Night in the Open. 



The ibex I was after were down on the grass slopes hard by 

 the place where I had shot the big head on my first day out, so 

 I started off with Nurah to stalk them, sending Niimgoon back 

 to camp with orders to bring everything down into the main 

 valley to a log hut used by Kazak herdsmen in the winter 

 months. 



The herd at the time was in a good position for a stalk, being 

 amongst some broken ground with good cover to favour an 

 advance. We had to go some distance down, the slopes being 

 steep and much intersected by gullies and waterways, all leading 

 into the ravine which ran down into the Agiass. This ravine 

 was deep and narrow, and the herd being on the move, though at 

 no great pace, presently disappeared into this and were lost to 

 view. We crept further on but could see nothing of them, so 

 they must have descended into the ravine, as the upper portions, 

 lying above us and fully exposed to view, held nothing. We 

 therefore continued down the slopes very cautiously, and soon 

 caught sight of the herd crossing a low spur. 



The whole of this ground was cut up into small cliffs^ 

 gullies, and little spurs jutting out from the main ridges, and 

 attempts to get over the terrain were rendered doubly 

 difftcult by its exposed nature, and the fact that the wind 

 was then in the wrong direction. But we held quietly on 

 our course, arriving at last at the crest of a small ridge 

 commanding a view of the herd, now grazing on the slopes 

 of another spur directly in our front. I had the binoculars on 

 them and, singling out the big head, awaited the chance of 

 a favourable shot. The wind was decidedly bad and presently 

 veered round in their direction, of which we were duly apprised 

 by the entire herd making off in hasty flight. The big ibex stopped 

 on the top of the ridge over which the others were disappearing, 

 and gave me a snap shot which must have told, for he stumbled 

 heavily, and then vanished on the far side. We dashed over the 

 spur and on to the further crest, a look beyond revealing the ibex 

 streaming down hill evidently with the intention of scaling the 



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