20 HUNTING CAMPS. 



Tom had at last forgotten that stunning kick that he 

 received in the canadon six hundred miles away. 



I therefore returned to follow the herd, amongst 

 which I had remarked a couple of good bucks ; but as 

 luck would have it there was no need to ride so far, for 

 at no great distance, as I paused on a ridge to have a 

 look round with my telescope, I perceived a fine old 

 warrior all alone and lying down in the grass beside a 

 pond very similar to that from which I had sprung the 

 herd some time earlier. This guanaco was at least a 

 mile distant, but I saw that by riding under cover of a 

 range of hillocks I could approach within four hundred 

 yards of him. Four hundred yards is, however, a long 

 start for a guanaco buck, and the chances were that unless 

 I could get the dogs nearer he would show them a 

 clean pair of heels. For the moment there was nothing 

 to be done but to make a first approach, which I did 

 under the lee of the friendly line of hillocks, and arrived 

 without difficulty opposite the pond beside which I had 

 seen the guanaco lying. 



There I dismounted, tied up the hounds, and crawled 

 over the edge of a hummock to reconnoitre. The buck 

 was still resting with his legs tucked in under him. 

 The sun, though low in the sky, was shining with a 

 bright yellow glow, and through the glass I was able to 

 get an admirable view of the animal. He certainly 

 appeared to be one of the largest and blackest and 

 shaggiest I had met with, in fact just the animal for 

 my purpose, but how to get sufficiently near to him 

 seemed a difficult problem. Next I took stock of his 

 position. He was lying almost opposite the middle of 

 the pond, which, being larger than I had imagined, 

 stretched a couple of hundred yards on either side of 



