vi MOUFFLON 161 



SARDINIA, 

 November 1869. 



Bas l and I left by moonlight at about 6.30, in- 

 tending to stalk for two hours, the men having orders 

 to meet us at the spring. It was a glorious morning, 

 a full moon lighting us over the rough rocky ground. 

 We separated. The rocks I stalked were on the north 

 side ; splendid ground, broken and rugged. I only 

 found fresh tracks, but could see nothing. I was first 

 back to the spring, and after a little Basil appeared. 

 He had shot a young female moufflon. She had 

 saved the life of a magnificent ram, which he had 

 stalked in the most gamey way, descending 1000 

 feet without his boots. After breakfast we beat some 

 rocks that we fancied the ram had gone into. Leo 

 got on a moufflon at once, running an old female up 

 to Basil's post, which he shot. The weight of the 

 former was ^ Ibs. in full. A bit of the old lady 

 we dined on, and found her excellent, wonderfully 

 tender. Saw cinereous vultures to-day. 



2Oth November. This being our last day we all 

 started early to beat the rocks on the north side, where 

 I saw tracks yesterday. We found marks where a boar 

 had been disturbed by our approach, and immediately 

 after Origo, who was walking first, blundered on the 

 top of a ram. He was round the corner over a scarp 

 like a flash. I bolted to the top of a hump of rocks 

 and spied a moufflon passing along far below me. 

 Basil saw the ram passing off to some rocks at the 

 bottom of a deep ravine. Going off to some good 

 posts, we sent the canardias and dogs down to beat 

 for those I had seen. They found at once. Leo 



1 His brother Basil. 



