258 SPORT IN MONGOLIA. 



the ground. It passed unnoticed at the time, but 

 I observed, when it was all over, a dozen bleed- 

 ing cuts on hands and knees. Somehow I reached 

 the main stream, where a fairly high bank allowed 

 a few minutes' rest in an upright position, and 

 then peering anxiously over the top I saw the 

 five big rams still grazing quietly about a quarter 

 of a mile from me. 



But more satisfactory still was the fact that they 

 were grazing slowly away from me, and that im- 

 mediately in front of them rose a low ridge, so 

 that, provided they continued in their present 

 direction, they must soon pass out of sight, and 

 so give me a chance of covering the few hundreds 

 of yards of open ground which still lay in front 

 of me. Pombo, who had been left some way be- 

 hind, now came up, and seeing how near I was to 

 getting a shot, forgot his " I-told-you-so " attitude 

 — he got a bonus on every big head which I secured 

 — and became as keenly interested in the proceed- 

 ings as I was. How slowly the beasts moved ! 

 And evening was fast settling down. Sometimes a 

 blade of grass would catch the eye of one of them, 

 and he would turn back to crop it, causing a delay 

 of several precious minutes. At last, however, the 

 summit of the ridge was reached, and they began 

 moving out of sight on the far side. For some 

 minutes the last of them stood gazing round on 

 the crest, but once satisfied he too went on, and 

 the way was clear. Now was my chance ! I pulled 

 myself together, climbed out of the river-bed, and 

 then ran ; ran as though my life depended on it, 

 across those few hundred yards of flat, stony, cover- 

 less ground, till I was on the very ridge which the 

 rams had just crossed. A moment to get breath, 



