CHAPTER XII 



NYAN (OYIS AMMON) SHOOTING 



The village of Shushal— Its mud ba7igIa—Arra.iige for the shooting— Old 

 Tashi— Treatment of native shikaris— Hardiness of Tibetan ponies- 

 Start for shooting ground— Sarap again— No post— One of the hardships 

 of Tibetan travelling— Sarap deposed— My boy head shikari— The 

 regular Kashmir shikar establishment— First sight of nyan— My first 

 stalk — My boy shikari does splendidl}-— Bag my first Ovis ammon— 

 Camp out— The Pangur-tso— On the border— Some more nyan— The 

 old ram's cautious generalship— A successful stalk— Habits of the nyan — 

 The valleys near the Pangi'ir-tso- Cloudy weather— Another nyan hunt 

 —Six hours in a shallow trench— A trying ordeal— The nyan score this 

 time— A desperate rush— Sight the nyan again— A long shot— Bag one 

 —Return to camp— After nyan again— Nonplussed by idiotic kiangs— 

 The hunting ground— An excursion suggested— Big heads are getting 

 scarce— Causes of their disappearance— Old rams are adepts at conceal- 

 ment — Eeturn to Shushal. 



The habitation in Shushal, dignified by the name han[/la, 

 was certainly a roomy place, but built in the most primi- 

 tive style, with mud walls, mud roof, and mud floor. The 

 dust resultant from these materials was pre-eminently 

 obtrusive, owing to the genial blasts of Tibetan wind that 

 could not be denied entrance. The doors, windows, and 

 chinks were not on the dust-proof principle like my watch, 

 and when the rain came down (which it did frequently), 

 copious douches of liquid mud bespattered myself and my 

 belongings. The village of Shvishal is a collection of 

 miserable mud huts straggling over the green fields, round 



