The Naturalist in India 305 



It is found along the line of the Himmalayahs, at an elevation of 

 from 6000 to 8000 or 10,000 feet, but is partial to localities. It 

 is strictly alpine in its haunts, and prefers the cooler regions of the 

 middle ranges, to the forests bordering on the plains of India, and 

 it especially affects the deepest solitude of the forest, or the bamboo 

 and dense jungle which clothe the sides and bottoms of the valleys. 

 Its favourite food consists of acorns, earth-nuts, bulbs, wild straw- 

 berries, wild currants, and gooseberries, &c. The breeding season 

 commences about April, when the wailing cry of the males resounds 

 through the mountains, and might be mistaken for that of any of 

 the larger falcons. The female lays four to six eggs, very similar 

 in colour to those of a turkey. 



The plach pheasant, the cheer pheasant, and the kalij pheasant, 

 are plentiful in the same districts as the Impeyan. Other phea- 

 sants of scarcely less beauty and interest, such as the black headed 

 pheasant (sometimes called the Argus), the horned pheasant, the 

 great snow pheasant, &c., were met with in the higher mountains; 

 but we must refer the reader to the work itself for the information 

 regarding them. 



Mr Adams' visits to Cashmere supply some interesting incidents 

 of the chase of the wild animals which inhabit its mountains — the 

 bear, the ibex, wild goats, or sheep, &c. — and he gives some infor- 

 mation as to the specific characters of the different species of the 

 latter, and their limits and distribution, all tending strongly to 

 shew their very close affinity with each other. 



The following quotation will give the reader a fair idea of the 

 game met with in the mountains, and of the difficulties attending 

 its pursuit, and of Mr Adams' style of description : — 



" We were cautiously picking our footsteps with Alpen-stock across the 

 dangerous rents and slippery pinnacles, peering down into yawning gulfs and 

 projecting shelves below us, when suddenly Elli Shah's eagle eye caught sight 

 of a herd of Ibexes emerging in single file from a narrow chasm underneath, 

 led on by two fine males, one of which was standing on a spiral-topped rock, 

 with his four feet close together, in an attitude of observation. Then the 

 Shikaree seizing a handful of dried mat grass, tossed it up in the air to ascertain 

 how the wind blew, and removing his turban, replaced it by a skull cap with 

 the gravity of a judge about to deliver sentence, and gathering up his loins, and 

 taking the spare rifle, led the way down a hollow, until peeping cautiously over 

 the edge of the cliff, he suddenly turned towards me, crouching behind him, and 

 with a nod and grin of satisfaction, and beaming countenance, as much as to say, 

 ' We have them now,' retired, that I might take his place. Resting the heavy 

 Westley Richards on the ledge, and raising the two hundred yards sight, I 

 covered the fore-shoulders of a fine male. Thud went the bullet on his side, 



