196 THE STORY OF THE YAK. 
old bulls are for the most part solitary or in small parties of three or four. 
They feed at night and early in the morning, and usually betake themselves 
to some steep and barren hillside during the day, lying sometimes for hours 
in the same spot. Old bulls in particular seem to rejoice in choosing a com¬ 
manding situation for their resting-place, and their tracks may be found on 
the tops of the steepest hills, far above the highest traces of vegetation. The 
yak is not apparently a very sharp-sighted beast, but its sense of smell is 
extremely keen, and this is the chief danger to guard against in stalking 
it. In the high valleys of Thibet, where so many glens intersect one another, 
and where the temperature is continually changing, the wind is equally 
variable. It will sometimes shift to every point of the compass in the course 
of a few minutes, and the best-planned stalk may be utterly spoiled. 
When alarmed or expecting danger, the cows and older bulls place them¬ 
selves in the van and on the flanks of the herds, with the calves in the 
center; but on the near approach of a hunter the whole herd will take to 
A WHITE YAT 
