102 BOMBAY NATUKAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



went about 50 yards down, and fell over, dead ; Mamdu got down 

 to him, and. halalod him (low down, to save head skin). The horns 

 measured 24^ inches. The festive tiffin cooly hoisted the body on 

 his back, Mamdu taking the head. Joyful prospect of mutton- 

 chops. Had a beastly scramble down the steep path in the dark, but 

 got in safely. 



March 31st. — Busy skinning, &c. The head skin very skilfully 

 taken off by Mamdu. Irides pale yellow. (Several very pretty 

 little birds about ; a little black and white bushchat and a white- 

 winged redstart (Pratincola caprata and Buticilla erythrogasira) 

 keep at work just in front of the door. It is quite a week since 

 I have seen my cook; left him at Boorzil to follow with the kit when 

 we pushed, on. In the meantime my culinary implements and 

 materials are : A Warren's broiler, a small kettle, a concave iron pan 

 for baking chupatties, a leather hotel (chagut) for water, two plates 

 and two tumblers of enamelled iron, two forks, one knife, three 

 spoons, pepper and salt case, pot of Liebig, tin of Epp's Cocoa, and 

 the following supplies from Boonji : A block of sugar, some crystals 

 of rock salt, J 4 lbs. of coarse gritty flour, a bag of dried apricots 

 (called hobaini), several dozen eggs, and some fowls. The eggs in 

 various stages of decomposition. Besides there is the oorin, which 

 is really very good mutton. Now what more does the hunter want 

 in the way of wittles! As to the process of making chupatties, it is 

 too awful. Mark Twain's " I pass " comes to mind as one watches 

 the wily native patting a lump of dough to and fro in his filthy hands, 

 but the final product is not bad ( though, like old port, I fancy there 

 is a good deal of " body " in it. 



April 9th. — A foi'aging day. The cook announcing that the larder 

 is empty, I resolve to go for the oorin seen the previous day. Ofoourse, 

 not an oorin was seen all day, and so the poor dog got none. I 

 rested on a ridge overlooking Boonji plain, and while grazing about 

 me, a tiny little leveret, about three days' old, came hopping up to 

 me as I sat still, and squatted down a yard from me. I easily 

 caught the little thing, but it squealed so that I let it go soon, and 

 off it scampered among some stones. There are many ram chikore 

 (Tetraogallut himalayanas) on the hill, and they are pairing — an 

 affair that evidently requires very great eloqueuce on the part of the 

 male bird. Lower down there are chukor (Caecabis chuhor) scattered 

 about, some already in pairs. No Markhor seen to-day. 



April \Atli. — Got the Markhor to-day that I had seen the first day 



