MY FIRST SHOT AT A MARKHOR 143 



from hurrying thoughtlessly on. "The rocks are 

 sharp and slippery ; the Sahib could easily fall. 

 Besides, it is better to leave the buck time to get 

 more ill, to be obliged to lie down." 



We load both guns as quickly as possible. 



" How could I have been so foolish and care- 

 less as to have forgotten to load the second one 

 before ! " 



We go to the spot where my first shot fell, but 

 there is no blood to be seen. 



The tracks lead sheer downwards. We follow, 

 and notice that they get slower, and then they are 

 lost on some snowless rocks. 



" Take care," beg the shikaris. 



These rolling stones are not to be trusted. 

 Snow and earth can come crashing down at any 

 moment. Pebbles and shingle roll past continually 

 messengers of a possible landslip. Death and 

 destruction follow in their train. 



We clamber down the steep ridge no matter 

 how steep it is, the wounded buck helps us to bear 

 everything. 



" Only get on, get on ; I must have him." 



In vain we look into every crevice, hunt about in 

 every hiding-place. For a long time in vain, and 

 then at last the quarry shows himself. But he is 

 already much further off than we had expected. 

 We can see him about four hundred yards in front 

 of us, standing on a slope split into many gorges. 



