48 MARKHOR SHOOTING 



very kind to liiai in the plains a few years ago. He said 

 I was not altered in the least after so many years' toil in 

 the heat, and recognised me, nay, every feature in my face, 

 at once ! I had never met him in my life before, but did 

 not feel called upon to correct the lucky mistake. The 

 result was that my arrangements were completed in an 

 hour, and I was allowed to cross the Indus and make for 

 my hunting ground without any opposition. There was a 

 standing order that no sporting gentleman, nor any other, 

 was to cross the river, as the country on the other side 

 was considered dangerous. All I was asked to do was to 

 write a few lines, saying that if anything happened to me 

 on the other side, no one was to be blamed, and that I 

 went entirely on my own responsibility, There was, 

 however, I think, another reason : a sportsman had already 

 crossed. That being the case, it was rather difficult for 

 the officials at the fort to make objections to my crossing. 

 I was informed that my precursor had had some difficulty, 

 but he arranged it by some management on the part of 

 his shikari. I had no particular desire to have my sport 

 across the Indus — I was simply driven in that direction 

 by force of circumstances. All the good Cis - Indus 

 shooting grounds were occupied, and I did not care to go 

 farther up the river in the direction of the Bara Loma, as I 

 had already come far enough, and my leave was for three 

 months only. Hearing that there was a vacant valley on 

 the right bank of the river, I made for it at once, and the 

 excellent Commandant Bagh Singh, by his mistake, facili- 

 tated my movements in no small degree. 



We crossed the Indus at mid-day, and went on at once to 

 the village of Daraot — the valley that was to be my hunt- 

 ino- ground. The sportsman before me had been shooting 

 for the last fortnight, but, as he had bagged nothing, I 

 thought there was a chance of picking up a couple of good 



