13:^ SHOET STALKS 



it. Indeed, the climax of nastiness was reached when the 

 uoiiest and dh'tiest of them on his arrival at camp, lioi and 

 thirsty, })liinged his whole face into it and drank freely. 



As soon as we had squared this and other matters in 

 camp and pitched our oidy tent, Willie and 1 started for an 

 exploration on our own account. Though the best of the 

 day was gone and we saw nothi ug, we found some fvrah 

 tracks ; and the tracks of the arouj are calculated to 

 rejoice the heart of the hunter, for they are as large as 

 those of the red deer ; and as Gerald arrived late in camp 

 with an account of what he had seeu, our expectations were 

 raised to the highest point. We had not yet realised that 

 it was one thing to catch a glim})se of the animal, and 

 quite another to put salt on its tail. 



The next morning I went with Andreas to the steepest 

 part of the mountain. It is cut into a series of deep 

 ravines which score the slope fr<>ni top to bottom. At 

 rio-ht anoies to these run long lines of vertical strata from 

 wdiich the softer limestone is worn away, leaving enormous 

 slabs ; the bio-o-est slab of all forms a clitf several hundred 

 feet high and two nules or more long, which runs along 

 the face of the mountain. Just outside this is another 

 similar slab or series of slabs, only a few yards in front of 

 it, and almost as tall as the cliff itself, and seeming from a 

 little distance to form part of it. Between the two is a 

 deep, narrow trench, barely accessible here and there 

 where the outer battlement is broken down. Lesser idates 

 of rock project all over the mountain side, and afford 

 splendid shade and hiding-places for the aroui. Here and 

 there are ragged bushes of thuja and clumps of alfa grass, 

 like the pampas grass of our gardens but of smaller 



