158 THE OORIAL. 



gummy substance. The females are much smaller than the males and of a rather lighter 

 color, without any vestige of a beard, and with very small horns. 



Oorial are usually found in herds varying from six or seven to twenty or thirty in num- 

 ber : during the winter both sexes may be found together, but as the hot weather approaches 

 the males live a good deal apart from the females. 



The low ranges inhabited by the Oorial are for the most part stony and barren, some 

 of them covered with low scrub or dotted here and there with thorny bushes ; occasionally, 

 they are craggy and precipitous, while in the valleys between the ridges, where there is any 

 supply of water, frequent patches of cultivation may be met with, to which the Oorial resort 

 at certain times, especially when the young wheat is springing up. 



The country being generally frequented by shepherds with their flocks of sheep and 

 goats, the Oorial move about a good deal : after paying nocturnal visits to the crops in the 

 neighbourhood of villages, they usually move slowly off at daylight towards some secluded 

 ravine, where they probably take up their quarters for the day, lying under the shade of 

 bushes or overhanging rocks, and so distributed, that most of the approaches are in full view 

 of one or more of the herd. 



Being accustomed to see goats and sheep with their attendants, they are not much 

 alarmed by their proximity, and may even occasionally be found grazing in company with 

 the domestic animals ; but they very soon recognise the presence of danger, and the sight of 

 an Englishman in ordinary shooting costume, or the glitter from a rifle barrel, is quite suffi- 

 cient to put the whole herd on the qui vive. 



The ground is, however, so much broken, that, in spite of the disadvantages of its being 

 nearly impossible to walk silently on the steep and crumbling slopes, there are many favor- 

 able opportunities of stalking, and I do not know of a better school for the young sportsman 

 who is anxious to become a proficient in the art of rifle-shooting, as distinguished from mere 

 target practice. For one good shot at game you will find a hundred who can make a good 

 score at the target ; while the really brilliant performer in the field will nearly always hold 

 his own on the rifle range. 



In January 1868 I visited the Salt Range in search of Oorial. Commencing shooting 

 from Sahowa on the 10th, I walked many miles on that day, but only saw one young ram 

 and a female. 



On the following day I moved camp to Domeli, and walked across the hills. Having 

 discovered a herd of Oorial at a great distance, I had a very long stalk, and at length got 

 within about a hundred and thirty yards of them. They were lying on some precipitous 

 ground where there had been a sort of landslip, and I could not make out the ram before one 

 of the females had discovered me, and given the alarm. I had to fire hurriedly, and missed 

 the ram with both barrels, but knocked him over at the third shot. He reared up and fell 

 back down the precipice for a short distance, and I thought he was done for ; he soon, how- 

 ever, managed to regain his legs, and slowly made off, though apparently with great difficulty. 

 I followed up the track for a long distance, but the blood, which had been at first pretty 

 plentiful, gradually diminished, and at length all traces were lost on the stony ground. I 



