284 THE LESGHIAN MOUNTAINS. 



first glow of morning, sailing on steady pinions 

 round the mountain top. 



Later on in the day, when, owing to lack of 

 supplies and disaffection amongst my men, I was 

 retracing my steps to the valley, I saw more of 

 these mountain kings. We had stretched our- 

 selves on a ledge of rock on which the sun shone 

 rather warmly, and, weary of climbing, were 

 resting in his cheering beams, when a shadow 

 came between us and him, and looking up, we 

 saw the form of one of these bearded robbers 

 hovering over us. A bullet from my ' express ' cut 

 out a handful of his pinions ; for a moment the 

 great bird staggered as if he was coming down, 

 but, to my chagrin, righted himself and sailed on, 

 steady and calm as ever, to finish his circuit round 

 a neighbouring mountain top, and, crowning in- 

 solence, to repass us exactly as he had passed 

 before, except that this time the bullet did not 

 fly so near its mark. 



My time was now getting short ; so that 

 though I had to leave my mountain home empty- 

 handed, I decided to pocket my failure, and return 

 at once to the post-road, to continue my journey 

 to the Caspian. Had I had a good guide, who 

 was also a keen sportsman, a good stalking glass, 

 and had I come a month earlier, I am sure the 

 result of my visit from a sporting point of view 

 might have been widely different. Jt is easy to 



