SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS 563 



since, as it had been so long out of sight, there was no 

 knowing where the quarry might have moved to. Every 

 little vantage-point had to be crawled up to and cautiously 

 peered over. At last, the farther side of one small knoll 

 was all the dead ground that remained. It seemed 

 impossible that all those sheep could be concealed behind 

 that slight cover; but nothing must be left to chance 

 in this sort of hunting, and I continued to move slowly 

 forward. The wind was gently fanning my right cheek, 

 so all was safe in that direction. Suddenly the top of 

 a horn appeared ahead. Raising myself inch by inch, I 

 gazed down upon the six rams, which were lying 

 down and facing every direction but mine. Alas ! 

 though they were only fifty yards off, not one carried 

 a head worth shooting ; they were all four or five year 

 olds. There was still just one portion of the slope 

 hidden from view, where the other lot must be, if they 

 had not cleared out ; so, wriggling back, I approached 

 this also from above. This time I was not so successful, 

 or perhaps the wind was less friendly, for that well- 

 known alarm- signal, a mixture of a grunt and a sneeze, 

 sounded before a single beast was visible. Hastily 

 swinging round into a sitting position, I saw the twelve 

 rams bunched together, and every head turned in 

 my direction. 



Four legs kicking in the air answered the first shot. 

 Another whack, as they bolted, proclaimed that the 

 second bullet had found its billet ; luckily, the second 

 ram made straight down-hill, enabling me to finish 

 it off close to the horses, much to the gratification of the 

 voracious old Kalmuk. 



One of these heads measured well, being 51 J in. in 

 length ; the other was a massive 49 in., but, one of its 



