IBEX- SHOOTING IN SPAIN. 



149 



involving almost incessant climbing, scrambling, and 

 walking on the worst of ground from morning till long 

 after dark. But in this sport we have hitherto met with 

 no success, either on this or other occasions. The Spanish 

 ibex is so scarce, so rarely seen on the move by daylight, 

 and so wedded to snow-fields beyond human reach, that it 

 is by mere chance they are found in situations where a 

 stalk is possible — very different to the descriptions we have 

 by such men as Kinloch and Macintyre, of the sport that 

 ibex afford in the Himalayas. There it would seem that 

 Capra sibirica is not infrequently to be found resting, feed- 



& 







,v 7 



THE PEAKS OF GREDOS. 



ing, or moving about by clay on mountain-sides considerably 

 below the snow, and in situations where it is possible for 

 the stalker to approach them from above. In Spain, 

 where the wild-goats are'much harassed, we have never 

 had the luck to fall in with such opportunities : though 

 that such do occur is demonstrated in a subsequent 

 chapter (" Eamon and the two big Earns")- Here, in 

 Gredos, and also in the Andalucian sierras, it has not 

 hitherto been our good fortune to fall in with ibex where a 

 stalk was even remotely possible. Though ibex might be 

 in sight daily, they have been found either on open ground 



