4 IBEX SHOOTING 



to lie ; to get at our quarry, therefore, 

 would mean hard climbing. And the 

 second, that as the season got warmer all 

 the snow on the steeper places would 

 avalanche, and come down into the valley 

 below ; this stage was as a rule over, he 

 said, before people crossed the pass ; but 

 this year he feared we should have the 

 benefit of the whole of it. We must, there- 

 fore, not be surprised if we were constantly 

 unable to proceed with our stalk. "It will 

 happen, sahib," he said, "and it is just as 

 well that you should know what to expect. 

 After a month or so, all the spare stuff will 

 have come down, and the green grass will 

 have sprung up ; then instead of having to 

 climb up to the ibex, they will come down 

 to us ; and as the snow will have melted a 

 good deal, we shall then be able to get 

 about the hills without difficulty, and shall 

 have an easy time of it, to make up for the 

 first month, which will be hard and danger- 

 ous work, and no mistake ; and we must 

 not be silly or foolhardy." 



