28 IBEX SHOOTING 



having a ridge between us and the ibex 

 the whole way ; once level with them we 

 should have to wait until they moved in 

 the evening, and then be guided by cir- 

 cumstances. 



A steep climb of some three hours, up a 

 slope of short dry grass, brought us to the 

 level of our friends. Here we were aided 

 by a narrow streak of deodars which 

 crowned the top of the intervening ridge, 

 and from their friendly shelter we could at 

 leisure survey the much-coveted prize, the 

 patriarch of the herd, as he lay on his hard 

 bed of solid rock, gazing down into the 

 valley beneath, shifting his position now 

 and again, generally lying as a cow does, 

 with his head raised and chewing the 

 cud, while his long beard floated out on 

 the mountain breeze ; sometimes stretching 

 himself out at full length on his side with 

 his head pillowed on a rock, and anon 

 brushing the flies off his back with a sudden 

 sweep of his horns, or indulging in an 

 ecstatic scratch at the root of his tail with 



