THE HIMALAYAN IBEX. 



155 



cularly inviting tuft. His progress was so slow that my patience was nearly exhausted when 

 he at last reached the foot of the slopes and descended into a sort of shallow basin where 

 he was concealed from view. No time was lost in commencing operations, but we had not 

 gone far before a new difficulty presented itself. Not far above us were three or four 

 juvenile Ibex which it was necessary to drive quietly away without alarming the herd. 

 This was successfully done, and as they moved straight up the hill there was no possibility 

 of their being seen by the lot that we were stalking. 



So far all had gone well, but we were still in ignorance as to where the herd was lying. 

 After resting a few moments we pursued our way, and soon reached a ridge from whence 

 we hoped to have a good view. Cautiously raising my head, I caught sight of two or three 

 Ibex lying on a gravelly slope not far above me, and a dip in the ground showed that there 

 would be no difficulty in approaching them. Drawing back a little, I ascended the hill, 

 and the ground proved to be so favorable, that I was enabled to walk without stooping 

 until I had arrived within less than a hundred yards of the unsuspecting herd. A low 

 juniper bush grew between me and them, and under cover of this I contrived to crawl quietly 

 up, until, on carefully peering through the bush, I could see a young buck lying within 

 twenty yards of me. He seemed to be gazing right into my eyes, but as he continued 

 quietly chewing the cud and soon turned to watch the proceedings of some of his companions, 

 it was evident that he had not observed me. Three or four females and young ones were 

 grazing just beyond him, and on the top of a knoll, about a hundred yards higher up, several 

 rounded arches showed the position of the old males, their horns alone being visible. For 

 half an hour I continued to watch them, and I was beginning to get a little tired of my 

 somewhat cramped position, when one of the old males rose, stretched himself, and then 

 walked quietly away. The others soon followed his example ; the females and kids moved 

 off in the same direction ; and finally the young buck thought it time to rejoin the herd, and 

 he also disappeared over the knoll. 



As soon as all had vanished, I slowly rose, and I could then see that the Ibex had 

 crossed a low ridge, and I had only to follow them up promptly to be certain of obtaining 

 an easy shot. 



To my disgust, however, I discovered that a ravine which interposed between me and 

 where the Ibex had been lying, and which I had previously been unable to see into, was 

 impassable at the point where I stood, and it became necessary to go farther up the hill 

 and seek for a practicable crossing. The hill-side was steep, and we had to climb nearly 

 a quarter of a mile before we could cross the ravine, and then the crossing was by no means 

 easy, as the banks were rotten, and nearly perpendicular. We accomplished it safely, how- 

 ever, and then descended as rapidly as possible to where we had left the Ibex. Being now 

 well above them, we were pretty certain of success, but on looking over the ridge for which 

 we had been making, we were just in time to see the last of the herd moving slowly along 

 a ledge nearly straight below us. His horns seemed to be a fine pair, and I lost no time 

 in sending a bullet through him, and I fired a second shot as he plunged forward after a 

 momentary stagger. I could just see that this bullet struck also, as the Ibex disappeared 



