AN EXCITING CHASE 271 



In my excitement I took a quick, standing shot at 

 him, and fired again as he rushed down the rocks. 

 In a second Taba was by my side, and as we both 

 watched the beast running away at full speed we 

 clearly saw that he was wounded. He went on, how- 

 ever, till he reached some steep crags on the opposite 

 side of the valley, where he finally lay clown. Taba 

 said he had located him ; so, calling up the ponies, we 

 made off in his direction in order to approach him 

 again from above. 



But the difficulty now was to recognise the rocks 

 from another side, for numerous rows of similar crags 

 ran down parallel from the top ridge. Dismounting, 

 we made our way through the broken ground, peeping 

 over the rocks, till suddenly we heard the rattling of 

 stones and caught sight of him as he dashed down 

 the slope. Bang went my rifle again, with the result 

 of breaking a leg ; but this only gave him greater 

 impetus, and following him down we got to the bottom 

 of the valley in less time than it takes to describe it. 

 I now thought that we had lost him, and was giving 

 vent to my despair, when Taba calmly pointed the 

 beast out to me standing on a ledge half-way up the 

 hill. He seemed unable to move ; I could distinctly 

 see the blood flowing from the wound, and thought 

 I might go on and finish him off, but Taba's plan was 



