Tiii-: i'.\Tiii:i; ui- aij, riii-: (ioat.^ 213 



would iKippi'ii ill I'jK'l, '■ st;i\f(l l);ick i'ov t hu ralthils." 

 As 1 expcclcd, the il)cx kept coming ])ack. It was cnrioiis 

 to soc tlioni snoakinii- out of t;roves close to wliicli a man 

 had just i)asse(h They knew pci't'ectly well what was up. 

 First canu^ tliri'c witliiii shot of me, l)ut thev were all 

 small: then a female and a liltir oiic : then t wo ^oodi.-h 

 l)U<dvs with nihers, ver\' low down. These last we were 

 fortunately able to keep in view, and saw them lie <l(i\\ii. 



AVe got down and found a good phiie for a shot, 

 whence 1 could see the bio-o-est. It was a loniiisli shot, 

 hut T was very stead v. Howevi^r. olf lu^ went like 

 liohtninii' and Celestin aoain declared 1 had missed, 

 neither c<tuld we find any blood. T could not see how 

 many went away when they crossed the next ridge, but I 

 noticed that thev were a lono- time arri\in!i there, as 

 ihouo-h somethiuL!' had ddaxcd tluun. To this circuiii- 

 stance I attached importance, as wild animals always stop 

 and look back if one of their number is missing; so we 

 fnllowrd I'll their line. There was a little hollow behind 

 some rocks below me. which 1 thoU'dit wouli eliiiiliinij 

 down to explore. As 1 peered into it my beast sprang 

 away through the trees. I could only see a pair of legs, 

 but of course I knew he must be badly woundeil. Then 

 we found — where the poor beast had stood and stanipid 

 the eround — another sie'n of a, wounded animal. A lew 

 yards farther thei-e were spots of blood, and thenceforward 

 we followed the tra(dv with extreme care. At last I saw 

 him lying behind a I)ush. IFe sprang away again, but 

 that time 1 was able to give him a disabling shot as he ran. 



These ibex are of a light Itrown colour, the males being 

 rather darker than the females; but the oldest males 



