X IN THE SHEEP COUNTRY 193 



than a mile away from it. With the telescope we made 

 them out to be rams, one with a decidedly good head. 

 Moreover, they were on a very easy bit of ground, a place 

 where even I could crawl up to them without the slightest 

 misgivings. On reaching the tents we found Glyn and 

 Little just getting out their rifles, preparatory to stalking 

 these sheep, which they also had seen. Hearing of my 

 previous bad luck, Glyn at once insisted that I should go 

 after them, whilst he and Hanbury sat in camp to watch me 

 stalk them. Little said that he would come also, as he knew 

 the easiest way to reach the spot. Since the sheep had been 

 lying down for some time, and might be on the move any 

 moment, we started at once. On nearing the spot where we 

 had seen them, and whilst climbing the last steep grassy 

 slope which should bring us in view of them, Little said he 

 would go a little higher and look down from a knoll above us. 

 He made for this bit of high ground and reached it some 

 distance ahead of me. The sheep had moved, and were then 

 feeding away uphill towards us on the other side of the brow. 

 Little walked right into sight of them, and immediately I 

 saw him crouch down and wave his hand, saying, " Come 

 quick — run ; they are going." There was about as much 

 chance of my running as of jumping over the moon. He 

 was 50 feet above me, and the grass slope was so steep that 

 I could only scramble up it. I reached the top just in time 

 to see Little running at full speed about 100 yards away, to 

 a spot whence he could see across the valley below. Into 

 this valley the sheep had evidently disappeared, as they were 

 nowhere in sight of me. Soon they appeared, galloping up 

 the hillside on the other side of the valley, and about 

 250 yards from Little, who let fly a string of lead at them 

 from his Mannlicher. At the fifth shot he killed the largest 



