PLAINS OF GYANIMA 141 



head as if struck by lightning. The others went off with 

 speed, and three shots at their sterns struck the ground 

 wide and harmless. Kunkoo was wild with joy, and, 

 while I loaded, ran up to the prostrate ram. This seemed 

 easy work, and Smyth's stories of the difficulties of 

 bringing Ovis Ammon to bag must be exaggerated. Alas 

 for the uncertainties of the chase ! This was but a 

 momentary triumph. The big ram had been only stunned 

 by being hit in the horn, and, recovering rapidly, he 

 struggled to his legs before Kunkoo could reach him, 

 and galloped off with his tail in the air as if nothing had 

 happened to him, while I stood ramming down bullets 

 and putting on caps, sick with rage and disappointment. 

 He disappeared over the next rise on the track of the 

 others, going strong, and none the worse for the bullet. 

 We hastened on his tracks ; and when we rose to the top 

 of the ridge they were all three together on the third 

 ridge, going like racehorses. The great tracks were in 

 the soft gravel, and not a sign of blood. We followed for 

 a mile or two, and then before us lay a wide flat or broad 

 valley, and we sat down to scan the opposite slopes, 

 quartering the ground with the glasses. The three tracks 

 here had been multiplied by many, and we could see that 

 a large flock had gone down the slope where we lay. 

 Presently — oh, joy ! — we caught sight of twelve fine rams 

 quietly browsing about a mile off on the side of a ridge 

 under a line of rocks ; some were lying down, so they 

 had not seen us or got any alarm. 



By making a detour, they could be reached easily, 

 and the line of rocks would form a shelter to stalk them. 

 Getting on the pony, to avoid the unsteadiness caused by 

 scrambling on foot over rough stones, the circuit of several 

 miles was accomplished. The ridge was gained, and the 

 wind being right from them, the moment of peeping over 



