HUNTING IN THE ANDES. 49 



though I was continually finding the tracks and beds of 

 bulls, I only had shots at two. This was partly owing, 

 however, to my refusal of a few other chances, for I sighted 

 the animals in such difficult positions that, as I was carry- 

 ing only a .275 Mauser, I was afraid of only wounding with- 

 out enough probability of a kill. 



One day when riding down to the low forest where I 

 had seen a guanaco standing actually in the edge of the 

 trees I found the tracks of a herd numbering a dozen or 

 more, and I followed them for several hours. I was just 

 thinking of taking a few minutes' rest, when I heard a stick 

 crack on my left front, as an outlying cow gave the alarm 

 to her companions. Running over the rise, I was in time 

 to see a bull as he dashed away. I got in a stern shot 

 which checked him, and the second barrel of the Paradox 

 behind the shoulder brought him down, but even then it 

 needed a third bullet to finish the business. 



On another occasion I spied three large animals from a 

 great distance. Two of them were lying down, and I could 

 only see the quarters of the third, whose head and fore 

 part were hidden by a bush. The cattle were several hun- 

 dred feet above me and considerably over a mile away. 

 In order to approach them without getting to windward, 

 it was requisite to make a very wide circuit and to come 

 down upon them from above, where the ground, through 

 the telescope, appeared to be covered with huge boulders of 

 basalt, that promised adequate cover for the stalk. The 

 climb to the top of the mountain was long and hard. I 

 made my way up the steep gully of a narrow torrent, cross- 

 ing many of its ice-cold tributaries, until at length I reached 

 the crest of the peak, and was rewarded by a view of the 

 most magnificent spread of scenery. When heated in the 

 chase the hunter is not always actively conscious of the 

 beauty of his environment, as he has time and inclination 

 to be during the many long pauses and waits of stalking, 



