petus into the air; and turning round and round, it fell with a heavy
concussion into the bottom of the valley; where, after rebounding full
six feet from the ground, it fell back again dead as a stone.

It was some seconds before the spectators could recover from surprise at
an incident so curious, though it was one that may often be witnessed by
those who wander among the wild crags of the Himalayas--where combats
between the males of the ibex, the tahir, the burrell or Himalayan wild
sheep, and also the rams of the gigantic _Ovis ammon_, are of common
occurrence.

These battles are often fought upon the edge of a beetling precipice--
for it is in such places that these four species of animals delight to
dwell--and not unfrequently the issue of the contest is such as that
witnessed by our adventurers--one of the combatants being "butted" or
pushed right over the cliff.

It does not follow that the animal thus put _hors de combat_ is always
killed. On the contrary, unless the precipice be one of stupendous
height, an ibex, or tahir, or burrell, will get up again after one of
those fearful falls; and either run or limp away from the spot--perhaps
to recover, and try his luck and strength in some future encounter with
the same adversary. One of the most remarkable instances of this kind
is related by the intelligent sportsman, Colonel Markham, and by him
vouched for as a fact that came under his own observation. We copy his
account verbatim:--

"I witnessed one of the most extraordinary feats performed by an old
tahir, that I, or any other man, ever beheld. I shot him when about
eighty yards overhead upon a ledge of rocks. He fell perpendicularly
that distance, and, without touching the ground or the sides of the
precipice, rebounded, and fell again about fifteen yards further down.
I thought he was knocked to atoms, but he got up and went off; and
although we tracked him by his blood to a considerable distance, we were
after all unable to find him!"

My young readers may remember that many similar feats have been
witnessed in the Rocky Mountains of America, performed by the
"bighorn"--a wild sheep that inhabits these mountains, so closely
resembling the _Ovis ammon_ of the Himalayas, as to be regarded by some
naturalists as belonging to the same species. The hunters of the
American wilderness positively assert that the bighorn fearlessly flings
himself from high cliffs, alighting on his horns; and, then rebou