THE NILGIRI IBEX 



which the two kids had made on the previous 

 occasion. I soon discovered the engaging little 

 animals, and they came towards us out of curiosity. 

 They came near, and, hiding behind a rock, I tried 

 to bleat like a goat and to call them up, while I 

 sent my men to make circuits from both right and 

 left simultaneously, and to close in and attempt 

 to catch one of them. Tame as they appeared 

 to be, however, they were far too wide-awake for 

 this, and dashing off, they crossed steep, rocky 

 ground at speed, and disappeared down below. 



By-and-by I again came upon two little kids on 

 the top of the hill, and though I called one of them 

 up to within about fifteen or twenty yards of me, 

 all attempts at effecting a capture resulted in failure. 



They were very entertaining little beasts, with 

 soft, fluffy hair, and I hope that their mammas soon 

 returned and took charge of them, and kept them 

 out of the way of the prowling hill panther, whose 

 penchant for ibex is as pronounced as is that of his 

 low-country congener for the domestic goat and its 

 young. 



Ibex were rare upon the Neilgherry hills at 

 that time, and it was very seldom that a buck 

 with a fair head was seen upon them. This was 

 a very great pity, for the sport of pursuing them 

 is a most fascinating one, entailing as it does hard 

 exercise in a lovely climate amongst beautiful 

 scenery, while the game itself is so vigilant and 

 hard to approach, that it is well worthy of pursuit 

 by the most experienced and skilful sportsman. 



For some years, however, ibex have been strictly 

 u 289 



