2 6o AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



herd belonged the young ram I had finished off for 

 her. He had waited a considerable time before the 

 animals fed into stalkable ground, taking the utmost 

 precaution not to miss the chance of securing the 

 magnificent old ram he had "spotted" with his glass. 

 Having got above them, the whole herd passed below 

 him, and as the large one came up broadside-on, he 

 had fired twice, shattering his hind quarters ; but this, 

 he found, was not sufficient to stop him, and as he 

 had only been able to take his shot late in the after- 

 noon, he had decided to spend the night out, and 

 follow him early the next day. The last he had 

 seen of him at dusk, much to his discomfiture, was 

 that, after having lain down several times, he had 

 finally risen and walked slowly over a ridge. Next 

 morning, at dawn, he was found lying some hundreds 

 of yards below the ridge in the next corrie, still alive. 

 He had to stalk him again, and put another bullet 

 into him before he could secure him. The wretched 

 animal must have spent a most uncomfortable night ; 

 but such is the vitality of these animals that only a 

 mortal wound will stop them. 



Next day we shifted camp westwards. Though 

 I felt much depressed over the last days' failures, I 

 decided to try once more my old ground in an eastern 

 direction, on the chance of finding the two old rams 



