X A RISKY CROSSING 163 



of some 50 or 60 feet, and we could hear the stones, as 

 they flew over the edge, falhng and breaking into frag- 

 ments on the rocks beneath. If any of us missed his 

 footing on the slope, or was struck by a rock, he must be 

 killed. However, there was no other way ; so, waiting 

 till an unusually large mass had gone clattering down 

 the shoot, we made a dart of it, and the next moment 

 were hugging the rocks on the far side. Luckily the 

 shoot was only some 15 or 20 feet across, and did not, 

 therefore, take long to get over. 



Leaving the coolie here, we went up and saw ahead 

 of us a bank of earth, which ran along one side of the 

 grassy slope on which the goats had been last seen, and 

 which rose directly from the hollow at the edge of the 

 glacier. We crept up cautiously behind this, till we 

 thought we were on a level with the herd, and then 

 turned up to its crest, which we reached, lying flat on the 

 ground. Peering cautiously over, we were astonished 

 to find that no ibex were to be seen. The grassy slope 

 was tenantless ; so we crawled quite up, on to the top 

 of the bank, and examined the rocks above us. 



There, lying on a rock, calmly looking at us, was one 

 of the ibex. I could not see any of the others, nor could 

 I tell which of the three was before me ; only the head 

 and a part of the body were visible, the rest being hidden 

 by the rock on which he lay. He was about 100 yards 

 or so away, and, taking careful aim, I fired, upon which 

 he rolled down the hill at once. The two others, who had 

 been concealed by some rocks close by, here jumped 

 up, and I aimed at the nearer of the two with the next 

 cartridge. He at once left his companion, and came 



