ANOTHER STALK 247 



and then to descend a steep gully, the cliffs in front 

 of us being utterly inaccessible, then climb up again, 

 and so on for a couple of hours, till we reached the 

 end of the ridge, from which we could distinguish 

 the sheep quite plainly. Some of the rams carried 

 magnificent horns, which served to encourage us on 

 our somewhat daring enterprise. We now crept 

 down for some time, and presently found ourselves 

 on the flat grassy steppe upon which the animals 

 were lying. Here we discovered that we could 

 advance out of sight of them without having to 

 crawl, there being a slight depression of the ground 

 where they lay. If by chance one of them had 

 stood up, we should immediately have been dis- 

 covered. Taba led the way in a most confident 

 manner, halting at places in order to look through 

 the glass, and see whether any bit of horn was 

 visible ; but no. All went well for the next half-hour. 

 Two or three hollows, of which we availed ourselves, 

 came in very opportunely, and we soon found it 

 necessary to crawl on all fours, and continue the 

 advance in this uncomfortable manner. We were 

 now, as I thought, within range ; but distances on 

 the steppe are so deceiving that we continued in this 

 way for more than another half-hour, moving on as 

 cautiously as we could, without catching sight of the 

 coveted horns. 



