IX THE FIRST IBEX BAGGED 133 



almost took one's breath away to see him falHng through 

 the air, a clean drop each time between the slopes he 

 touched, and made one realise what a frightful series of 

 precipices were below where he was shot. The horns 

 appeared in some miraculous manner to have escaped, 

 but of course we could not be sure. 



Then Abdulla and Dingo started to get them and 

 the skin, and slinging the two rifles across my shoulders 

 I started back the way we had come. Chand was waiting 

 at the top, and I joined him after a hard, tedious climb. 

 I had no idea, till I was going back leisurely, what a long 

 distance we had come, or how difficult the way had been. 

 In the excitement of trying to get up to game, one does 

 not notice how bad the ground often is. 



It was about one o'clock when Chand and I started 

 back, in a blinding snowstorm accompanied by thunder, 

 for our camp, and about 4 p.m. when we got in. I had 

 to put on a fresh pair of grass shoes on the way, those I 

 had started with in the morning being quite worn through. 



I have seldom enjoyed tea as much as I did that 

 afternoon, lying back comfortably on a seat made for me 

 under the cedar that shaded my tent, and looking up at 

 the steep mountain, down whose side I had just come. 

 I had, after all, got the old buck I had missed the evening 

 before, and regained (I hoped) the confidence of my men. 



Abdulla came in half an hour before dusk with the 

 head and skin. The points of both horns were gone, 

 and one horn was broken off the head. The longer 

 horn as it stood measured 34^ inches, and I estimated 

 from the appearance that when whole it must have been 

 about 39 inches long. It was very unlucky, as when 



