38 IBEX SHOOTING 



tion indicated, and there, sure enough, the 

 points of two horns were visible and mov- 

 ing; the horns becoming more and more 

 apparent, until quite suddenly the whole 

 ibex came to view, two hundred yards off. 

 There he stood, high above us, looking 

 down at us in an incredulous way, only his 

 forelegs, chest and head visible, as with 

 head alternately on one side and the other, 

 he seemed to wonder what these prostrate 

 forms could be, if forms indeed they were, 

 up at this unwonted time of the year in 

 his own special preserves. 



I was so out of breath that to fire would 

 have been useless ; so with a groan I bowed 

 my head to the ground, and did not move 

 for a full minute. When I looked again 

 he was still there ; something must be done 

 soon, or not at all : so I slowly got my rifle 

 into position, took as steady an aim as I 

 could at his chest, which was all I could 

 see, and pressed the trigger. I knew it 

 was a shaky shot, but I could not expect 

 him to stand there for ever. " Bang " went 



