ROUGH NOTES OF TRAVEL AND SPORT. US 



shaped body, almost pig-like in his gallop, and with shaggy flanks and 

 neck and beard. Neither in mien nor gait is he such a fine-looking 

 animal as the markhor ; at the same time his activity is equal to the mar- 

 khor's. The two big fellows got angry about something or nothing, 

 and had a very serious butting match for full five minutes. After 

 it, to our great disappointment, for they had been splendidly placed 

 for a stalk, they set off, about 11 o'clock, to join the rest of the herd, 

 and went along the hillside for quite a mile and a half, some of the 

 females going too, and others remaining scattered about, thus 

 blockading us completely. As the day wore on, they mostly lay 

 down to sleep, lying quite flat on the sides with head thrown back, 

 and all four legs stiffly stretched out, not doubled under them, 

 basking in the sunshine. So we had to sit behind a rock and watch 

 the big ones loafing on and on, further away from us, while we dared 

 not budge lest the scattered females and small males should discover 

 us. Over a distant slope the big ones went, and gradually the others 

 followed, all passing out of sight, except five females that seemed 

 disposed to sleep all day. But at 5 o'clock they too rose and quickly 

 trotted after the herd and over the slopes, and the coast was clear at 

 last, so far as we could judge. The ground, however, was a network 

 of stony ridges and ravines, with yew-trees and thickets here and 

 there, and we could not tell whether all had gone or not. However, 

 as we had two miles to go, over rugged ground, we started. When 

 half way, two shrill whistles above us from four females that had 

 been lying higher up, and had winded us, showed that we were 

 caught ; but though they repeated their signal five or six times, they 

 made uphill instead of following the herd, and we went on. At the 

 crest of the ridge we had to wait once more, as the big ones were 

 far below, feeding, and three females were lying close to us. The 

 wind came steadily up, though it was now 7 o'clock, and soon the 

 three sentinels rose and went down to the herd below. We followed, 

 keeping below skyline on the outer side of the ridge, and soon got to 

 within fifty yards of where the big ones had last been seen, but there 

 was no sign of them anywhere. Some females saw me peeping over, 

 stared suspiciously for about four minutes, while I kept quite still, 

 trying to catch sight of the big ones, who were somewhere close by. 

 Then the wind veered, a general stampede took place, and out bolted 

 in the crowd the two big fellows from right below me ! As 1 stood 

 up to get a clearer view, the boughs of the yew caught the sling of 

 the rifle, and so checked me for a second or two, and the big ones 



