TRY MY HAND AT IBEX CURRY 89 



people from Dam(')t and tlic surrounding villages have 

 found refuge there. After breakfast we cooked two days' 

 food, in order to make a dash for the head waters of the 

 main stream. The Hasharai, I was told, was a good place 

 for ibex, but the country is very open and undulating, and 

 no fires could be made, as the head of the valley is a good 

 distance beyond the limit of forest, and wood is not 

 procurable. 



We camped at the last birch-trees. With the help of 

 Jafar Bata, I was very successful in making a curry of 

 il)ex, seasoned with wild rhubarb. I must confess that the 

 chief credit rested with Jafar. One or two suggestions of 

 mine were evidently so wild that he ignored them, hardly 

 able to conceal his contempt. After this snub from a 

 coolie, I subsided into the position of his assistant, fetching 

 the water, peeling the rhubarb, etc. Jafar had become 

 invaluable since my regular chef's collapse, or rather infla- 

 tion, for I heard he was " swelling visibly " every day. 

 In the first days of my travels, Jafar came to the front 

 by sheer force of character, and was promoted from coolie 

 to water-carrier ; he made himself useful in the cooking- 

 tent, and soon ruled the limp pseudo-Persian gentleman 

 who presided there. When I cut loose from my regular 

 camp, Jafar again received promotion, being appointed 

 general factotum in my rough shikiiri life — cook, water- 

 carrier, and body -servant all in one. But I never 

 discovered what a jewel he was in his first role until I 

 tried to show him how to make a curry. I disdained his 

 assistance when I essayed the chops ; but Jafar, having one 

 attrilnite, at least, of genius, — sublime patience, — bided his 

 time, and to-day he became master of the situation — and 

 of his master. Only one drawback marred his utility — he 

 was very dirty in his habits and clothes ; it is the promi- 

 nent characteristic of his countrymen. Twenty years of 



