IBEX-SHOOTING IN SPAIN. 155 



saxifrage lent colour to the barren greys : and amidst the 

 fringe of snow grew delicate mauve and white crocuses : 

 on a granite rock, hard by, warbled lustily a little songster, 

 not unlike our hedge-sparrow, but whose scientific name 

 is Anthus spipoletta, its tender blue-grey throat swelled 

 with song. Suddenly a new sound diverted instant atten- 

 tion from all such things — it was a loud "sneeze," 

 twice repeated : and I knew that some wild animal stood 

 close behind the big rock which concealed me. Then 

 followed the clatter of horny hoofs rattling on rock : and 

 a few moments later, upon the very ridge where I lay, not 

 ten yards from the muzzle, appeared a pair of ibex. 

 Hardly a whole instant did they pause — pictures of high- 

 strung wild nature, and quivering in every nerve— a lovely 

 spectacle. At ten yards' range (a boca Jcjairn in Spanish 

 phrase), my right barrel missed fire : and simultaneously 

 the ibex were gone — had leaped off the ridge and down 

 among the rocks a dozen yards below. They were, 

 however, still near enough ; and the second bullet sent 

 the largest pitching forward on its knees, all but 

 dividing the spine. It instantly recovered its feet, and the 

 pair went on : but on a rock-ledge a quarter-mile away 

 they stopped, and one lay down : a long range, random 

 shot from the express, and the other went on alone : but 

 the stricken beast was already dead. And then, on the 

 rocks close by, I perceived a little wild kid, long of limb 

 and somewhat ungainly in form, but of infinite grace in 

 movement. Tame and confiding seemed the little mite ; 

 yet on approach, it bounded off down those broken rocks, 

 with a speed and agility that defied pursuit. These two 

 ibex were, in Spanish words, a cobra and a chirata. 



Five other ibex (two males) sought to reach the refuge 

 of the main rock-wall by a lower pass, where two guns 

 were posted. Here, as they scrambled slantingly up the 

 perpendicular face, one bullet sped true, and the best 

 macho fell back, struggling to maintain a foot-hold. 

 This his paralyzed quarters forbade, and soon what 

 little life remained was' extinguished as the stricken 

 animal fell bouncing from rock to rock till it finally lodged 



