SPORT AND TRAVEL 



59 



yards at Mr. Holland's shooting-ground, and had 

 found that by taking the foresight very full, I could 

 shoot with it up to two hundred and fifty yards. I 

 was already sitting down, but not facing quite the 

 right way, so turning noiselessly on my axis I placed 

 an elbow on each knee, South African fashion, and 

 taking the ivory foresight very full on the shoulder of 

 the foremost goat (as I could not see that there was 

 any choice of horns amongst the three), pulled the 

 trigger. He made a plunge forward, and rushing 

 down a steep face of rock, was out of sight in an 

 instant. I could not tell whether I had hit him or 

 not; but I felt sure that if I had not, I must have 

 gone very close to him, a very poor consolation in 

 a case of this sort. The report of my small rifle 

 being much fainter and farther off than the goats on 

 the Maimun Dagh were accustomed to hear, the two 

 remaining old billies evidently did not know quite 

 what to make of it, nor did they realise exactly the 

 nature of the danger that threatened them ; for turn- 

 ing round, they sprang a few feet along the ledge on 

 which they were standing, and then stood close to 

 one another, half hidden by a small bush. Hastily 

 reloading, I lost no time about firing at the one I 

 could see best ; but for this shot I pushed up the 

 second sight, as I thought the distance a bit too far 

 for the first. In doing this I made a mistake. At 

 any rate, I missed my mark, and the goats were in- 

 stantly round a rock and out of sight. The old Turk 



