VIII HERD OF IBEX 117 



not to try for the good head before us. Considering 

 that he knew more about the probabiHties of the case 

 than I did, I reluctantly gave way, and we settled to 

 watch the ibex till they should get into a place where a 

 stalk would be possible. 



At first we thought we might succeed in crawling 

 down unseen, and, as there were a few cedars on the 

 steep slope, began creeping cautiously downwards. But 

 we quickly had to stop, for after going a short way, we 

 found that the hillside made a sheer drop of some 200 

 feet, and we could see no way round the precipice. So 

 we lay where we were and watched the herd about 400 

 yards off. There were three small bucks beside the big 

 one, and four females, and the lot were grazing about, 

 and gradually edging their way up the opposite side of 

 the gully. Seeing after a time the direction in which 

 they were moving, and being aware that if they got up 

 much further they would see us, we climbed cautiously 

 back and took refuge behind the crest of the ridge. 



It was then about ten o'clock. Immediately below 

 where I sat was what looked like a plain, sloping from 

 the foot of the mountain we were on to the bank of the 

 Indus. The distance hid the inequalities, but I knew, 

 from the journey we had made over it, going from 

 Honuspa to Shut, that there was very little " plain " about 

 that arid rocky waste. Far to the left a projecting spur 

 from the range behind me hid the village of Honuspa 

 and the bend of the Indus beyond it. To the right, and 

 some distance below, lay the village of Shut. 



By about noon the ibex had lain down for the day on 

 a sandy slope some distance beyond the gully, and were 



