126 
STALKING IBEX. 
ibex nine in number with one fine large black fellow amongst 
them. The old buck soon laid down amongst his wives, a 
small brown buck going higher up the hill as a sentinel 
After carefully surveying the ground he also laid down^ we 
then had to make a long circuit to get at them, it being very 
doubtful whether I could out-manoeuvre the sentinel. The 
wind being all right, I took off my shoes when I got to the 
top of the hill and crept cautiously along ; presently the 
heads of some of the does appeared below me, they were up 
and alarmed not at me but at some coolies who were passing 
along a road below ; it was some time before I could make 
out the black buck. At last I saw him, still lying down, took 
a steady shot at him, the ball caught him just behind the 
withers and he never rose. He was a magnificent old saddle 
back. The height at the shoulder forty-two inches, circum- 
ference of fore arm twelve inches, from the point of the nose 
to end of tail fifty and a half inches, chest to tail thirty-eight 
and a quarter inches, nose to root of horn twelve and a half 
inches. The scenery where 1 killed him was wild and 
magnificent in the extreme. 
Ibex are very quick of hearing and from the number of 
loose stones about, one has to be very careful, and I was 
often obliged to take off my shoes when stalking them. 
When at the hut on June 12th, 1S57, I was off by daylight 
to the lower crags, but found nothing, and the wind chang- 
ing I went to the end of the big crag shola so as to meet the 
wind, sending Francis, my shikarie, to look over the ground 
lower down. A little higher up I saw a black buck with a 
doe. I watched them for a short time, and as 1 could not 
see Francis, started for the stalk ; taking off my shoes when 
near the spot. The broken ground was beautiful for stalking 
