TROUBLE REWARDED. 267 



the wary animal of impending danger, and in a 

 moment he was out of sight. How can I de- 

 scribe our disappointment ! all our labour was spent 

 in vain, and we had to recommence our work, i.e. 

 look and listen for other kuku-yamans. 



But then when everything went smoothly, and 

 we were fortunate enough to get within 200 or 1 50 

 paces of the sheep, with Avhat a beating heart would 

 I lean my rifle on a projecting ledge and aim ! In a 

 moment the report of the discharge rolled through 

 the ravines of the wild mountains, and the kuku- 

 yaman, pierced with the shot, fell on a rock, or 

 rolled down into the valley below, leaving a bloody 

 trail behind it. Sometimes, if only wounded, the 

 wild sheep would start off, then a second bullet from 

 my rifle laid it low on the spot. This animal is, 

 however, difficult to kill, and will often escape 

 though mortally wounded. 



■ As soon as we had descended to the slaughtered 

 sheep we cut it up, the Mongol taking as his share 

 the entrails, &2. ; then tying the legs of the animal 

 together, he would throw it over his shoulder, and 

 we would start for camp heavily laden. When 

 the droughts in spring parch up all the grass on the 

 mountains, the kuku-yamans feed on the leaves of 

 the trees, and will even spring on to the trees for 

 this purpose. Of course this may be an exceptional 

 case; but I myself, in May 1871, saw two of these 

 animals on a wide-spreading elm fourteen feet from 

 the ground, on a spur of the mountains bordering 

 the left bank of the Hoang-ho. 



