threw ourselves on the grass at the edge of the meadow which we had
left in the morning. Hotenfa chanted his prayer when we opened the goral,
but the God of the Hunt missed his offering for my bullet had smashed the
heart to a pulp.

On our way back to camp the red dog, although dead tired, disappeared alone
into the heavy forest below us. Suddenly we heard his deep bay coming up
the hill in our direction. Hotenfa and I dropped our burdens and ran to an
opening in the forest where we thought the animal must pass.

Instead of coming out where we expected, the dog appeared higher up at the
heels of a crested muntjac (_Elaphodus_), which was bounding along at full
speed, its white flag standing straight up over its dark bluish back. I had
one chance for a shot at about one hundred and fifty yards as the pair
crossed a little opening in the trees, but it was too dangerous to shoot
for, had I missed the deer, the dog certainly would have been killed.

I was heart-broken over losing this animal, for it is an exceedingly rare
species, but a few days later a shepherd brought in another which had been
wounded by one of our Lolo hunters and had run down into the plains to die.

When we reached the hill above camp Yvette ran out to meet us, falling over
logs and bushes in her eagerness to see what we were carrying. No dinner
which I have ever eaten tasted like the one we had of goral steak that
night and after a smoke I crawled into my sleeping bag, dead tired in body
but with a happy heart.

CHAPTER XVI

THE SNOW MOUNTAIN TEMPLE

On October 22, we moved to the foot of the mountain and camped in the
temple which we had formerly occupied. This was directly below the forests
inhabited by serow, and we expected to devote our efforts exclusively
toward obtaining a representative series of these animals.

Unfortunately I developed a severe infection in the palm of my right hand
almost immediately, and had it not been for the devoted care of my wife I
should not have left China alive. Through terrible nights of delirium when
the poison was threatening to spread over my entire body, she nursed me
with an utter disregard of her own health and slept only during a few
restless hours of complete exhaustion. For three weeks I could do no work
but at last was able to bend my "trigger finger" and resume hunting
although I did not entirely recover the use of my hand for several months.

However, the work of the expedition by no m