A TEDIOUS STALK 129 



the valley beyond. But Abdulla knew that this was 

 impossible, because the eastern side of the bluff was a 

 sheer precipice, and he calculated, rightly as it turned 

 out, that the herd would be obliged when going down- 

 wards, to come partly towards us. When on the crest and 

 within a couple of hundred yards from the top of the 

 bluff, we found a descending ridge running due east, and 

 therefore at right angles to the main ridge we were on. 

 Going down this a little way, floundering through the 

 snow, we saw a few females and small males, a good way 

 below us, crossing a lower and smaller ridge which ran 

 south at right angles to the one we had just come on to, 

 and consequently parallel to the perpendicular face of the 

 bluff. The top of this third ridge was some 300 yards 

 or so from where we were, and I sat down and waited 

 for the patriarch, thinking I should not get a better 

 chance. But he was much too astute to follow the 

 others exactly, and kept below. We went on then to 

 the lowest point we could conveniently get to on the 

 second ridge, and therefore the nearest to the third 

 ridge. This manoeuvre was, however, detected by some 

 of the ibex, who then, instead of crossing, began moving 

 south along the side of this third ridge. The old male 

 was the last to come up, but did not see us. He was 

 slowly following the others, grazing as he went, and had 

 evidently quite recovered the alarm caused by winding 

 us half an hour before. I was many times tempted 

 to put up the 300 yards' sight on the Lee-Metford and 

 take my chance, but I was not confident enough in my 

 shooting, and refrained. Gradually the patriarch grazed 

 his way to the top, and then, when the remainder of the 



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