of meat I determined to see if I could not secure
one of them for the pot. A successful stalk brought
me to within 100 yards of the buck which I had
picked out. The animal was lying down, and did not
appear to notice me as I peered round a rock, and I
decided, therefore, to wait until he moved in order
to get a clear shot. He showed no inclination to do
this, however, so after a ten minutes’ wait, matters
were brought to a crisis by my openly showing myself.
He jumped up and stood facing me; I quickly drew a
bead on his shoulder and was just pulling the trigger,
when another buck appeared over the ridge, striding
along with stately step. A glance showed that the
new-comer possessed a much finer pair of horns than
the one I was covering, so the sight was transferred
without a moment’s loss of time. The sharp crack of
the rifle rang out, but the buck remained perfectly
indifferent, calmly contemplating the scene; but a
moment was spent in reloading, yet in that time I
realised what a magnificent animal it was that stood
before me. This time no mistake was made, and a
bullet behind the shoulder killed him on the spot.
On measuring his horns, they were found to be
27^ inches from tip to base, within half an inch
of the record secured many years ago. I carried the
head proudly back to camp, and laid it before my
door; even the phlegmatic natives were moved to
enthusiasm by the sight, for as it lay there the horns
seemed to be many inches longer than any previously
seen or obtained.
After the day’s rest the ponies travelled well.
To lighten the loads of the baggage animals, the
riding-ponies were given their share of the burdens,
and from now onwards we were unable ourselves to
ride at all.
A fresh valley was entered, but it was soon found
that the farther we advanced the scantier became the
vegetation, and so a halt was called in a sheltered
ravine where a little grazing was still to be found.
The country was swarming with a small marmot-like
rat, and to pass away the time we dug up a couple.
When held in the hand or placed on the table, they
showed not the slightest sign of fear, and even when
put on the ground made no attempt to escape. They
were placed in a box lined with grass, but although
they seemed to feed well, one died in the night, and as
the , other appeared to mope for his little companion,
we turned him loose. He would not run away and
was therefore placed in a burrow, where he no doubt
soon forgot his short experience of mankind and condensed
milk.
A sharp turn to the north brought us to a deserted
gold-field, where thousands of pits stretched northwards
for two or three miles. The valley was now still and
silent, but quite recently it must have been alive with
gold-seekers, for the water-runs and dams were quite
distinct and sharply defined. The excavations had
been only carried to a depth of from six to eight feet.
From this interesting place we descended into a
great stony plain, bounded on the west by a steep and
rocky range, while to the north the mighty Deasy
Group apparently shut us off from the spot appointed
as the rendezvous with Hargreaves and the rest of
the party. The thin atmosphere and the immense
extent of the landscape made it very difficult to
estimate the distance, and it was not till the second
day that we reached the lower slopes of the range.
Our course was directed towards the most likely-looking
valley, which lay slightly to the east of the point where
the snow-field apparently ended.