A GLISSADE. 195 



form a rest — for my arm is still weak — and taking a hasty 

 !iim, fire, and of course miss. 



Alas for that useless random shot ! which I shall never 

 cease to regret, although I have often since profited by the 

 lesson it taught me. 



Hardly has it left the barrel when there is a tremendous 

 clatter close above us, as the third markhor, which we 

 imagined had preceded his companions over the brow, 

 starts wildly up from where he has been standing un- 

 noticed in the deep shade of the crag behind which we 

 have approached. So utterly astounded am I at this un- 

 expected apparition, that I actually miss the monster at 

 about eighty yards distant, as, with his splendid horns 

 thrown backward, he springs nimbly up from rock to rock 

 until he vanishes with a bound over a ridge rising just 

 above the crag. 



Here was a nice mess I had made from firing that long 

 random shot ; and how often are good chances thus stupidly 

 lost ! But " there is no use crying over spilt milk," so we 

 climbed up to examine the spot where the buck was when I 

 shot at him. He must have had a very close shave, for 

 there lay a lock of his long beard, which had evidently 

 been cut off by the bullet. We followed him over the 

 ridge and down into another deep valley, where his tracks 

 led across a steep snow-bed, on which, had he been wounded, 

 we could not have failed to find traces of blood, however 

 small ; besides, it was now getting late, and we were a 

 considerable distance from camp, so with much reluctance 

 and regret we gave him up as lost. 



Gamoo, lively under any circumstances, now proposed a 

 glissade down the snow-bed, as our way home led in that 

 direction. So we had soon almost forgotten, for the time, 

 our disappointment as we all went sliding, and I being less 

 expert at it, as often rolling, down the steep slope, much to 

 the amusement of my companions, who shouted with laugh- 

 ter, in which I heartily joined. The shock to my nerves, 



