240 STAG AND BEAR SHOOTING IN KASHMIR 



pine-scented air filled my lungs. lu the evening we 

 went out and watched the open hillside for a stag. 

 For two hours we saw and heard nothing ; the sun 

 went down behind the range, the evening breath of the 

 forest grew colder and colder, and my thoughts turned 

 longingly towards the cheerful log-fire and the meal 

 awaiting me. My appetite grew keener, and at last 

 persuaded me to leave just at the very time a stag was 

 likely to appear. I lay down, at length, before the fire, 

 and was getting comfortably warm, when a stag roared in 

 the very direction whence we had just come. 



We were not two hundred yards from the open glade, 

 and we covered that distance in record time, though the 

 shadows were dark and the ground was by no means level. 

 The local man led the way and spied the stag, from the 

 edge of the forest, crossing the open towards a spring 

 farther down. I tried hard to get a view, but could not 

 see the beast. Darkness was fast coming on, and the 

 surrounding forest made darker the clearing which the 

 stag was crossing. He must have winded or seen us, for 

 he went back at once the way he came, but slowly, and 

 called again. We raced round the hillside, and at last 

 I caught sight of him going at a leisurely pace towards 

 the opposite wooded slope. I took steady aim with the 

 Winchester, and heard the shot tell. He disappeared in the 

 bottom of the depression, and we waited to see if he would 

 appear on the opposite slope ; there was no sign of him, 

 and I made sure he was down. So we went on cautiously, 

 and discovered him lying on the level, facing us. It was 

 now almost dark. If he rose and went only a few yards 

 into the forest, we were certain to lose him ; so I fired 

 again and missed. The stag sprang up and made for the 

 forest, but I had just time to give him another shot, which 

 dropped him as he entered the birch bushes — a most lucky 



