MARKHOR AND SHARPU SHOOTING 171 



bigger head ; but markhor were none so plentiful 

 that one could afford to let a chance go by on this 

 account, and I fired. The Winchester, which I had 

 used on account of the distance, planted a shot 

 within two feet of the foremost animal and he was 

 at once out of sight around a ledge. The second 

 markhor, at the report, followed the other, but was 

 just far enough behind to enable me to load and fire 

 again before he disappeared. I should not have had 

 another chance. That was the most satisfactory 

 shot the little rifle has ever fired, for it hit the mark- 

 hor square in spite of the distance. But those goats 

 seem to be able to get away with any amount of lead, 

 and though on coming up I found plenty of blood, 

 the animal was nowhere to be seen. However, his 

 blood-trail made tracking a comparatively simple 

 matter, and before long he was found stone dead in 

 an almost inaccessible place on a cliff, where ropes 

 had to be used, and his body was recovered with 

 great difficulty. 



Thus my ibex and markhor bags were filled, the 

 heads of the latter both measuring approximately 

 forty-three inches, a good average size ; they were 

 quite different in shape, one set of horns extending 

 spirally upwards, and the other almost horizontally 

 out before the upward curve. The scalps were al- 

 most white, with splendid black beards; the skins 



