28 HUNTING CAMPS. 



stunning kick that he received in the canadon six hundred 

 miles away. 



I therefore returned to follow the herd, amongst which 

 I had remarked a couple of good bucks ; but as luck would 

 have it there was no need to ride so far, for at no great 

 distance, as I paused on a ridge to have a look round with 

 my telescope, I perceived a fine old warrior all alone and 

 lying down in the grass beside a pond very similar to that 

 from which I had sprung the herd some time earlier. This 

 guanaco was at least a mile distant, but I saw that by riding 

 under cover of a range of hillocks I could approach within 

 four hundred yards of him. Four hundred yards is, how- 

 ever, a long start for a guanaco buck, and the chances were 

 that unless I could get the dogs nearer he would show them 

 a clean pair of heels. For the moment there was nothing 

 to be done but to make a first approach, which I did under 

 the lee of the friendly line of hillocks, and arrived without 

 difficulty opposite the pond beside which I had seen the 

 guanaco lying. 



There I dismounted, tied up the hounds, and crawled 

 over the edge of a hummock to reconnoitre. The buck 

 was still resting with his legs tucked in under him. The 

 sun, though low in the sky, was shining with a bright yellow 

 glow, and through the glass I was able to get an admirable 

 view of the animal. He certainly appeared to be one of the 

 largest and blackest and shaggiest I had met with, in fact 

 just the animal for my purpose, but how to get sufficiently 

 near to him seemed a difficult problem. Next I took stock 

 of his position. He was lying almost opposite the middle 

 of the pond, which, being larger than I had imagined, 

 stretched a couple of hundred yards on either side of him. 

 It seemed, as far as I could judge, to be deep. As to the 

 chances of approach, I now saw some large blocks of glacial 

 detritus which covered the ground that lay between me and 

 the guanaco. My only plan seemed to be to bring the 



