72 MARKHOR SHOOTING 



escaped with only two or three bad gaps along the edges 

 of the curve, and the tips somewhat damaged. So many 

 misses disgusted me, and I looked on my two Henrys with 

 anything but affection ; but they were not in fault. In 

 this instance I made the mistake of keeping the muzzles 

 of the rifles in the shade of a bush to keep the foresight 

 from catching the sun, but in the endeavour to efifect this 

 my position became awkward, and I could not place the 

 foresight true on the animal's shoulder — hence the misses. 

 I perceived my mistake at the fifth shot, and fired my 

 last with the sight in the sun, and the bullet struck within 

 three inches of the point aimed at. The horns were 

 352 inches long, 12 inches round base, 26 inches between 

 tips. These horns quite met at the base behind, then 

 curved out gracefully ; they are massive, but the tips were 

 ruined by the fall down the rocks. Mirza Khan, after 

 examining the teeth, said the buck was six years old — 

 half the age of the 47-incher ; but the horns of the younger 

 animal are much thicker. Mirza Khan and Jamala went 

 down and did the haldl, Sharafa making no objection 

 this time, though the animal was of course dead before its 

 throat was cut. The meat was stowed away in a hole 

 and carefully covered with rocks, Mirza Khan saying he 

 would send his brother up for it next day, we bringing 

 away only the head and skin, as I thought, but Mirza 

 Khan, it turned out, had the heart, liver, and saddle 

 carefully packed up in the skin. He had great capacity 

 for meat, and could eat any quantity without accompani- 

 ments, even without salt. On the way down we came to 

 the bottom of a narrow valley, with a small spring of 

 water oozing from beneath a rock. This was another 

 shooting-box of Mirza Khan's. Water is scarce in these 

 barren stony hills, and the markhor came to this spring 

 to drink. Just above the rock Mirza Kh;in showed me a 



