DEATH OF A BIG RAM. 269 



and then — but all thought of the next step was 

 instantly banished. A puff of wind or the sound 

 of a falling stone reached the still invisible rams, 

 and the next moment they were streaming back 

 across the valley. 



The first shot brought one down. " Malinka," 

 hissed Pombo, and I aimed again. But now they 

 were travelling fast, and try as I would I could 

 not cover one. The hoarse bark of a wolf came 

 from behind me. The rams hesitated, pulled up 

 for a second, and looked round. I had the 300 

 yards' sight up, and fired at the leader, a grey- 

 haired beast with a massive head. He went on 

 for a few yards and then sank down, while the rest 

 disappeared up the mountain-side. Pombo shrieked 

 a triumphant war - whoop, and nearly spoilt every- 

 thing by dancing a wild fandango across the valley 

 bottom and half-way up the hillside opposite, for, 

 as I soon discovered, the beast was very far from 

 being dead ; and after capturing the Kalmuk and 

 subduing him by threats of summary justice with 

 the butt-end of my rifle, I proceeded to make a 

 careful stalk after the wounded beast, and was 

 lucky enough to get up unobserved and give him 

 a death - shot at six o'clock. 



He was a magnificent beast, with a perfect horn 

 57 inches along the curve, and 20 inches in cir- 

 cumference at the base. But there was no time 

 to waste, for night was upon us, and camp was 

 a long way off. I sent off Pombo to fetch the 

 ponies from the hollow where we had tethered 

 them, and occupied the interim in skinning and 

 cutting up the beasts. By the time we had loaded 

 up the horns and turned our heads towards camp 

 it was quite dark, and for the next two hours 



