DIMENSIONS OF MARKHOR SHOT 63 



Sharafa that, in this country, the game is always considered 

 " halal," provided the hunter, after shooting the animal, 

 follows him up at once, and does not sit down till he has 

 cut its throat, though the cutting may be performed hours 

 after the animal has been hit, or is dead. This convenient 

 interpretation of the law saves a good deal of meat which 

 would otherwise be wasted in a difficult country like this. 

 Musalmans always have some convenient dodge like this 

 for circumventing the law. Sharafa superintended the 

 cutting-off of the head, through the telescope. The dimen- 

 sions taken at camp, whither we now returned, were — 

 length of horns round curve, 4 7 inches ; girth at base, 

 111 inches; divergence at tips, 26f inches. I measured 

 the hoof of one of the fore legs — length, 3| inches ; breadth 

 at heel, 2| inches. Of my six shots only two took effect ; 

 the third broke the left fore leg at the knee, the sixth was 

 through the right shoulder — a splendid shot at three 

 hundred yards, if not more. This markhor's coat was 

 quite different from that of the one first shot ; the colour 

 of the latter resembled the dirty white fleece of a sheep. 

 The pelage of this one was the same as that described by 

 Ward in his book, page 17 — a reddish or brownish hue, 

 mixed with white in front and a darker shade towards the 

 hind quarters. The hair was not long, except that of the 

 beard, which waved down splendidly. He looked thin, 

 and had a tucked-up appearance, due perhaps to old age, 

 for his teeth were worn nearly to the gums, and the horns 

 were battered and chipped. When Mirza Khan and 

 Ghariba appeared with head and skin, they used strong 

 language to Sharafa for causing so much meat to go waste. 

 I think he made a mistake by interfering with the 

 halal. 



