76 OORIAL. 



of the position I was in when firing, for they had vanished over the crest. 

 By the time we scrambled up to the spot they had been on, they had 

 travelled a long way and were hidden by the broken ground. 



Later on that day I stalked a herd most successfully, but could see no 

 male worth shooting, in my opinion, although I was within twenty yards 

 and undiscovered ! I then had to discharge my willing, but quite 

 inefficient gun-carrier, and trudge away back to where my camp had been 

 moved on the road to the railway. I secured another man belonging to 

 this locality, and left at dawn with him. About 8 a.m. we came on a herd 

 of six good oorial, the best I ever saw, and tried a stalk by working down 

 a neighbouring gorge and turning up to the left, so as to take them in 

 rear. I always tried to keep high up on the hills looking for game, and 

 then descend for a shot, as it is generally downwards all game look for 

 danger. Bad luck attended me, for they were very restless and had 

 moved off when I reached niy point, chiefly owing to the shouting of a 

 cowherd to his charges in the ravines of the foot-hills. We made a 

 detour, hoping to meet them as they turned up again, but they went down, 

 and I found them three hundred yards below me, gazing up hill ! I left 

 my man and tried a single stalk, but failed, nearly falling every step, and 

 missing the largest male, with the 200 yards leaf up and a very full sight. 

 He was nearly three hundred yards away, but, seeing he was so restless 

 and unapproachable, I chanced a shot for the sake of the splendid head. 

 During the afternoon I came on some more, but could not get a shot. 

 My notes end up that trip with the summary that the game was generally 

 very wild on that range, but that I would probably have bagged a couple 

 of good heads, had my local men any idea of sport and the science of 

 stalking. 



My readers will quite understand from the above that game is plentiful 

 enough, but that good heads are both scarce and exceedingly wary, while 

 at the same time little assistance can be expected from local men, whose 

 chief ideas are cattle, crops, and snuff ! 



