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THE YAK. 



animals to be so situated that there appeared no reason- 

 able doubt of complete success ; and I only thought of 

 how many I should knock over, and told Subhan he must 

 scrutinise the herd, and discover the position of a huge 

 bull whose enormous footprints had been the object of 

 our admiration. We held much sanguine talk of this 

 kind, as we descended towards the prey in expectation. 

 But, alas ! it turned out that the game was far away up 

 the ravine, some three miles ; that the wind blew strongly 

 straight on them ; and there was but the one direct path 

 up to them no side-slip by which to turn their flanks. 

 But yet, there they were ; and, scanning them through 

 my glass, I counted, big and little, sixty-three. There 

 being apparently nothing else for it, we advanced, hoping 

 from the favourable direction in which the clouds moved 

 there might be also a favourable current of wind further 

 up the ravine : so we made the attempt to stalk these 

 wary animals whose power of scent, their principal 

 security, it is said is wonderfully acute and far-reaching. 

 And so we found it. We approached right well, as far 

 as concealment from sight went ; but the brutes 

 winded us, and gradually drew away. This leisurely 

 retreat deceived the shikarries who pressed mo to pursue, 

 in spite of my repeated assurances that it would be 

 utterly futile. Having hunted the bison in the west of 

 India, I was up to this seeming apathy to our approach. 

 Subhan, as always, eagerly leading, kept on the advance, 

 until we suddenly viewed the whole herd, closely packed 

 together, moving slowly forward, out of shot. The 

 shikarries would have it that they were not alarmed ; so 

 we made an onward move again to gain a rise, whence 

 they hoped my battery might open with effect, though at 

 a long range, on so dense a mass. We gained the stony 

 height, but found the herd again scattered, some still 



