CLIFF HINDERS OUR PROGRESS 35

direction we wanted to take. While we had not seen
any live rams we had found the complete skeleton of
what must have been a very fine one. It was lying out
on a tiny ledge that overhung a precipice, and to reach
it a most dangerous descent would have been necessary.
While I have found the complete remains of almost every
other animal, this is the only time I have ever discovered
one of a sheep. Whether he died a natural death or had
been wounded it was impossible to decide, as it was not
worth the risk to go down to it on the chance of finding a
bullet hole in some of the bones.

“© Rotten luck to be stuck now, Jack,” I said. “Itisa
safe bet those rams are not far ahead, and I feel sure we
should spot them if we could only get a peep down the
other side. Which shall we do? Go back and try to
find an easy place to get down into the basin to our right,
as it is hopeless to try the other one, or risk a nasty
descent from where we are? If we go back we shall
lose a lot of time, as it will be a risky climb down for
a good thousand feet, and we may be held up by a
bluff near the bottom and have to climb all the way
up again,”

‘* We might as well quit altogether as go back,” answered
Jack. ‘‘ We can just go down here sailing, and be at the
bottom in no time.”

Knowing Jack as I did, it was a foregone conclusion
what his answer would be, and I might have saved myself
the trouble of asking him. He was always in favour
of trying anything, no matter how great the odds against
making it were or what risks you took. So, though
it was with a most unpleasant feeling that we would
in truth go down “sailing,” as Jack said we would,
and finish with getting our necks broken, we began the
descent.

We got down in safety. As a matter of fact it was not
as dangerous as it looked, though there were occasions
when I can hardly say I enjoyed myself. Several times
we had to cross narrow ledges that overhung bluffs, where
a slip would have been fatal, and there were slopes so steep

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