A Day after Urial 67 



other. There was no time to waste, so we 

 hurried after them, running and glissading down 

 a shale slope which lay conveniently close. After 

 climbing up the first of the two ridges we slowly 

 raised our heads and as slowly lowered them 

 again and looked at each other. A big ram 

 was lying within five yards of us. I felt almost 

 inclined to poke him in the ribs and see him 

 jump ; and for a hundred yards or so the ground 

 was literally covered with urial, lying in every 

 attitude of ovine repose ! The wind was luckily 

 in our faces, and we had not been seen; but an 

 attempt to push the muzzle of the rifle over 

 would, to a certainty, have attracted the at- 

 tention of at least one of those scores of sharp 

 eyes, and have resulted in disastrous failure. 

 So we crept with infinite care over the loose 

 stones with which the slope was covered, see- 

 ing in every one of them a potential source of 

 ignominy and defeat, to where a big rock was 

 perched on the ridge some eighty yards from 

 the nearest ram. From behind this we surveyed 

 the herd. A supreme moment, the glory of which 

 was more than tinged with anxiety. Our herd 

 had evidently been joined by another ; there were 

 three or four rams quite as good as the one we 

 had originally seen, and it was difficult to say 

 which was the absolute best. I therefore selected 



