142 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



the rocks was one of fearful anxiety and extreme caution. 

 Sure enough there lay below the rocks fifteen splendid 

 rams, a few of them grazing, some asleep with their 

 massive horns resting on the ground. There were several 

 very old ones with enormous cartwheels of horns, very 

 thin, and as if overburdened by the great weight. To 

 choose the biggest was some difficulty. At last the crack 

 of the rifle woke these startled giants from their peaceful 

 repose. The bullet went high, clean over the ram's back, 

 though the distance was under 200 yards and the sight 

 taken was without any elevation. The stampede was 

 immense. They looked as big as donkeys, and, except 

 for their unmistakable horns, as little like sheep as 

 possible. To miss such a mark was simply maddening. 

 The second barrel, however, struck a good-sized ram in 

 the shoulder, and he soon tailed off with a foreleg disabled 

 and the bone evidently smashed. Then commenced a 

 stem chase up a steep mountain. Every five minutes we 

 saw the great beast some half-mile ahead of us slowly 

 toiling onward with a foreleg swinging, and our hopes were 

 raised that he must soon collapse ; but he would again 

 appear slinging along over easier ground, as he emerged 

 from behind frequent ridges. Sometimes he was joined 

 by another ram, which seemed to encourage him and run 

 off again at right angles, so as to mislead us in tracking ; 

 but there was no difficulty as to the tracks, for blood 

 flowed profusely and the stones were spotted with red, 

 gory marks. The labour and exhaustion from running 

 and scrambling up rocky hillsides was immense, and the 

 anxiety of keeping him in sight made the chase a fearfully 

 weary one. Panting violently for breath and perspiring, 

 Kunkoo kept on bravely ahead and beckoned to me to run 

 on. At last, after miles of this work and what seemed 

 hours of toil, sloping along the steep side of the mountain, 



