SHOOT A MUSK-DEER 121 



Sharafa his due, these little indispositions never interfered 

 with his work, and, when game was in sight or he was 

 stalking, his affectations were dropped, and he was the 

 keen shikari, every inch of him. He had the real hunting 

 instinct, and worked with me in the most pleasant and 

 satisfactory manner throughout. I considered myself lucky 

 in having secured his services, and excused his mannerisms 

 as a phase of the complicated Kashmiri character. 



Next day we reached the crest dividing the Hant valley 



from Bagtour. Shortly after leaving camp, and while 



going through a birch forest, I put up a musk-deer, and 



missed him like a man at thirty yards, with the left barrel 



of No. 1. The rifle kicked disagreeably, and the bullet 



went high. I think its base could not have been seated 



on the powder, as I had not crimped it in. This is a 



detail which should never be forgotten, as cartridges get a 



good deal of shaking about in this kind of shooting, and if 



the bullets are not properly secured over the powder, they 



work out a little : the consequence is, a disagreeable blow^ 



on the shoulder and a bad shot at the closest range. 



Going on a few yards, I saw the deer again. I hit him 



this time with the right of No. 2 at twenty yards : the 



bullet blew the poor creature nearly in half. The hair 



and meat were blown about the place, but we were all 



keen on fresh meat, and the halal was of course successful. 



The striking power of Henry's "450 Express, with five drams 



of powder, could not have been better exemplified, though 



the effect was not pleasant to see. We went to the crest of 



the range, and climbed the Losar peak, where ibex were 



known to be, but saw nothing, save, on the Hant side, five 



musk-deer feeding, for which we did not try lest we might 



disturb ibex. Musk-deer were plentiful. The local shikari 



from Bagtour, whom I had with me, said that this year, so 



far, he had shot only twenty males and alotd twenty 



