FOUR LARGE RAMS SEEN. 251 



rested content with plodding along in the wake of my 

 pack-ponies. Certainly I should not have been in the 

 high spirits that I was. To enjoy hunting wild sheep 

 to the full you must be possessed of a whole host of 

 virtues — endurance, good temper, an inexhaustible stock 

 of patience, perseverance, and an unlimited capacity 

 for putting up with disappointment. I do not say 

 that I possess these qualities, I merely remark that 

 this is the equipment which the hunter ought to have. 

 But to return to the story. 



We had toiled all the morning and seen nothing, and 

 I was looking disconsolately round through my field- 

 glasses when my attention was arrested by something 

 moving on a distant sky-line. I was not given long to 

 examine it, for it disappeared almost immediately ; but 

 the sight of a beast at all was enough to encourage us, 

 and off we went up the steep shaley hills in front of us, 

 clinging in various attitudes to our stout little ponies, 

 till we reached a small hollow near the summit, where 

 we left them and proceeded on foot to examine the 

 ground that lay before us. Nor did we have to go 

 very far, for after creeping across the bare hill, and 

 crawling a little way down the far side, I became 

 aware of the presence of a beast lying down straight 

 below me. As I put my glass on to him, I felt 

 my heart begin to thump against my ribs with sup- 

 pressed excitement. I was gazing at a magnificent 

 ram not more than a few hundred yards away from me. 

 It was the first really big ram I had seen, and through 

 my powerful Zeiss glasses he appeared to be almost at 

 my feet. However, the immediate question of the 

 moment was how to get within shot. A careful survey 

 revealed the presence of three more rams, all lying 

 down, and we were worming our way with infinite 

 caution and patience down towards them, when sud- 



