A SUCCESSFUL STALK 85 



— space. At our feet was a wide open valley, a level 

 plain apparently for a long way down, the head of the 

 Jagot valley, very stony, barren, and desolate. I was now 

 standinij on the extreme frontier of the British Indian 

 Empire. Chilas and Darel were Lelow the next ridge on 

 my left. The Chilasis bring their cattle to graze on the 

 slopes below in summer, a little later on. It was rather 

 lucky that they were not here during my shooting 

 excursion. 



Descending from the rocky hilltop, we had breakfast, 

 and followed the ibex tracks down again. It must have 

 been the very Hock I missed yesterday. We ascended the 

 low central ridge, and carefully searched the opposite hill- 

 side, but saw nothing. On the top of a spur we came 

 upon the fresh tracks of a bear, which must have come 

 down the same way that we had gone up. We followed 

 his tracks for a while, then gave him up, as he was 

 evidently travelling fast. After crossing some dense scrub 

 [ind bad rocky places, Mirza Khan sighted a buck coming 

 in riur direction, and then another a little distance from 

 the first, so we went higher up tlie hillside to get above 

 the game, and tlien began the stalk. Crossing a slatey 

 ledge, the rock under my feet gave way, and the slates 

 went down with a terrible rattle that, I imagined, must be 

 heard a mile off. I held on and found footing again. 



The ibex were not alarmed, for, as I have said, noises of 

 this kind do not frighten hill game. We lost sight of them 

 for some time, but did see one at last, and managed to get 

 witliin one hundred and fifty yards of him. He was on 

 the slope above wliifh we had just come, and was evidently 

 going to the rocky places we had just crossed for his 

 night's lodging. He was in no I'urry ; he halted every 

 ten paces and grazed about, sometimes looking right and 

 left, evidently for his companion, who was not visible. 



