154 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



The crossing was rather more than I had bar- 

 gained for ; again and again an impossible crevasse, 

 or an ice-covered slope which led to the edge of some 

 ugly break in the glacier, necessitated a retracing 

 of our steps and a new start, and only at the end of 

 two hours did we reach the farther side, weary and 

 dripping. 



A steep ascent of the mountain-side followed, and 

 once at the top, a sheltering tree afforded a few 

 moments' rest, where we could observe the game 

 unnoticed. The heads that appeared on that open 

 mountain-slope were larger than any we had yet 

 run across. The larger bucks were all of the dark- 

 est brown, their horns curving magnificently over 

 their backs and their beards hanging long and 

 shaggy. Before we had watched ten minutes the 

 whole herd moved off behind a ridge, but as usual 

 a solitary female was left posted, and the slight- 

 est movement from behind our tree would have 

 spoiled it all. 



The longed-for moment came after an impatient 

 wait, the female slowly moving behind the ridge, 

 leaving a clear but hazardous slope for us to cross in 

 order to get within range. It was surprising to me 

 how we kept from slipping, but something on the 

 plan of a hundred-yard dash and a rather studied 

 nonchalance respecting the precipice just below 



