203 IBEX. 



eighty yards ahead, unseen by him. I told him to lie 

 down, but he did not hear me, his head and ears being 

 covered with a cumbley (blanket). Luckily the buck 

 stopped to gaze at us for a few seconds, so, stepping aside, 

 I fired, and heard the bullet strike. Atlay fell down with 

 fright, believing he was shot, and the buck bounded off, 

 apparently unhurt, and disappeared over some rising 

 ground in front. We followed his tracks some distance, 

 finding no sign of blood, but found him lying dead about 

 three hundred yards away at the foot of a small declivity. 

 The bullet had passed through the lungs in front of the 

 heart. This was the best buck I ever shot, a real old 

 solitary saddle-back the solitary ones being generally 

 good specimens. As we gradually progressed up the hill, 

 the mist became thicker, and the shikaries correspondingly 

 useless from the cold, so I went on ahead, and presently a 

 puff of wind blew the fog aside and disclosed three ibex 

 within forty yards. They were moving slowly down the 

 slope, and suddenly disappeared from view in a hollow, but 

 quickly emerged on the opposite slope and stood for a few 

 seconds. Selecting the largest, a handsome buck, I fired, 

 and over he rolled, apparently quite dead, down the slope. 

 I ran after him for a short distance, but was stopped by 

 warning shouts from Atlay. The body continued to roll 

 down, and, gaining impetus as it descended, cannoned from 

 rock to rock, finally vanishing over the edge of a precipice 

 into asholah 200 feet below. The Carders said they would 

 get him next day, so we continued the ascent towards the 

 summit. 



About half a mile farther on, I peeped over the edge 

 of a cliff, and discovered a herd of fifteen ibex about fifty 

 yards off, on a ledge of rock enveloped in mist, and was 

 lucky enough to kill the largest buck with my right barrel, 



