AN AFTERNOON WITH ARIEL AND IBEX 363 
the ariel, it seemed inexplicable that a big troop should 
now stand thus—inert and careless, though in full view 
and actually within long-range rifle-shot. Lowe suggested 
that the animals were conscious of being half-invisible— 
protected by phantasmagoric effects. Possibly that was 
so ; I did not dare myself to delve so deeply into animal- 
perceptions. 
For several minutes—till eyes ached—we sat, drinking 
“As he fell” (Ariel). 
in this phenomenon through the spy-glass. Neither 
horn nor hoof stirred the while. 
In that unreal atmospheric confusion it was impossible 
to select; so we advanced obliquely, to pass their flank 
on our left. Still nothing stirred; till we almost walked 
into a single master-buck (that we had never seen) straight 
ahead—a real beauty. Leisurely he trotted back past our 
position—a sort of spook amidst spectral boulders—and 
presently, close by the main herd, relapsed into quiescence. 
At 200 yards he appeared a translucent patch against 
half-opaque rock. I must have covered his ghost-like 
form with absolute accuracy; for the buck dropped 
