28 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



first wild goat I had ever seen, these looked to me 

 very large, though now I doubt if they could have 

 reached thirty inches in length. The wind was very 

 bad for a stalk, as it was blowing in puffs from below 

 up the mountain-side, and it was too late to make a big 

 detour and try to approach them from above. I was 

 for leaving them alone and trying for them the follow- 

 ing morning; but by a vigorous pantomime, which I 

 took to mean that a bird in sight is worth two in the 

 bush, my guide urged me to try to get a shot forth- 

 with, so I made the attempt. I managed to get 

 within two hundred and fifty yards of three of the 

 ewes, but could not see the ram anywhere. Then 

 came a puff of wind from behind, and the wild goats 

 were off at once, the ram never showing himself at all. 

 And thus unsuccessfully ended my first encounter 

 with the "father of all the goats." 



On the following morning I left camp at 5 A. M., 

 accompanied by a young Turk named Mahmoud, 

 who, the old head man said, was well acquainted with 

 the haunts and habits of the goats. My young hench- 

 man carried a small wooden water-bottle and some 

 dried figs and bread, whilst I was burdened with my 

 rifle and cartridges. We had a very hard day on the 

 mountain, not getting back to camp till 7 P. M. Early 

 in the morning we saw a ewe and a kid within easy 

 shot, but did not fire at them, and soon afterwards 

 made out six more on the sky-line, on the edge of a 

 precipice near the top of the mountain. These were 



