Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/219

Rh yak-shooting I will describe how we shot one of those whose skins are in my collection.

One evening we observed three yaks browsing in a defile not far from our yurta. I went towards them at once, and when within 200 paces aimed at the biggest and fired. All three scampered off, but after running less than half a mile they stopped. This time I approached to about 300 paces, and fired again at the same animal as before. His companions bolted, but the huge beast, wounded for the second time, came slowly towards me. I carried my Berdan breechloader, from which I fired shot after shot, apparently producing no more effect on him than if I had been firing at a target. I could see the dust fly off his coat as the bullets struck him, nevertheless he still advanced, only now and then, as he received a more serious wound, recoiling a few paces. When he got within about 150 paces of the place where I stood, my ammunition was spent, so, leaving one cartridge in my gun in case of emergency, I ran back to camp for a fresh supply, as fast as my legs would carry me. My companion and one of the Cossacks now joined me, and we all three proceeded to the spot where I had left the yak. Here we found him prostrate on the ground, giving no signs of life except by the movement of his head, adorned with a splendid pair of horns.