IN TIMBER AND BRtlLfiE. 249 



revolt was over ; they moved on, and in the neighbour- 

 hood of a little pool of dark water which lay at the 

 head of the savanne the whole herd were lost to sight. 



We immediately pushed on under the kindly cover 

 of the ridge, the wind seemingly in our faces, everything 

 in our favour, and on the best of terms with our hunter- 

 luck. But this happy state of things was, as usual, of 

 but short duration. To the north-east lay the bare 

 hillside, where the eighteen had come upon the scene, 

 and the ridge under which we were creeping formed, as 

 we soon discovered, a mere tongue of rock that must be 

 crossed. As we climbed it I felt that ominous tickling 

 of the wind, first on one ear, then on the other, and 

 finally on the back of the neck, which means an eddy. 

 The herd we had first seen were, or we judged ought 

 to be, about a hundred yards away over the ridge and 

 about abreast of our position ; the eighteen which 

 had descended the hillside at an equal distance straight 

 ahead of us. If either band were startled both would 

 in all probability stampede. We therefore scrambled 

 down from the ridge and began to circumvent its base. 

 I was sure the deer must have been startled ; but no, in 

 another twenty yards I caught a glimpse of the white 

 hind -quarters of a doe, and I saw that her head was down 

 and that she was feeding. So far good, but the 

 wind was shifting more and more to the side, and, as it 

 seemed, must carry the hint of our presence to the herd 

 we had seen first. No cover was now left to us but the 

 final knob of the ridge, a bare hummock of reindeer 

 moss, and at the very moment we attempted to crawl 

 to it the wretched doe raised her head. We both lay 

 still and were making up our minds to a long wait 

 when, to our relief, she fed quietly out of sight. 



