180 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



within a few feet of the animal and lay there so ex- 

 hausted that he could not move. 



It was well that the goat was disabled, for the 

 hunter could have done nothing to have stopped it 

 had it recovered sufficiently to start away. Thus he 

 lay for full five minutes, gasping, before he could 

 recover sufficiently to attend to his game. Regaining 

 his breath and strength by degrees, the naturalist 

 finally began taking notes, and having dispatched the 

 goat with his knife, he walked back to the place where 

 he had left his camera. He photographed the animal 

 just as it had fallen. Three hours were now spent in 

 measuring and skinning the goat, and at three o'clock 

 in the afternoon the hunter started for camp at the 

 foot of a steep mountain. 



The package of skin and bones was about as heavy 

 a load as Dyche could well carry, and to add to his 

 discomfort he was terribly thirsty. He had had 

 nothing to drink since he left camp early in the 

 morning, and his great exertions had caused such 

 violent perspiration that his system was depleted of 

 water. At four o'clock he had gone about half a 

 mile, and found himself on a shelf from which there 

 appeared no possible means of farther descent. A 

 lower bench was finally reached, but no water could 

 be found. While searching here for a path another 

 goat was seen feeding on a rocky ridge across a 

 small canon about four hundred yards away. 



Removing his shoes, the naturalist began a stalk, 

 but soon found that he could not get nearer than 

 three hundred yards in that direction, so he crawled 

 back and descended to a lower level. Slipping along 



