246 STAG AND BEAR SHOOTING IN KASHMIR 



dryshod — his bones somehow must have ached for some 

 days after ! The pony was not in the least hurt, though 

 the drop could not have been less than twenty feet, and 

 he turned completely over, legs up, and fell on his back. 

 He was up in an instant, came out of the water, shook 

 himself like a dog, and promptly turned to on the grass I 

 The saddle was seriously damaged, but was still serviceable. 

 I think it was the saddle that saved Chamurti a broken 

 back. Yakiib wound up the tour in style. When he 

 reached his native town, his friends, including several 

 nondescript nawabs (nobles), gave a banquet in his honour. 

 Of course he was well plied with liquor, and the narrative 

 of his adventures in the far-off land from which he had 

 just returned must have inflamed his naturally quarrelsome 

 disposition. At anyrate there was a row before the feast 

 was finished, and little Ydkiib distinguished himself by 

 clearing the banquet-hall of hosts and friends alike. He 

 always carried a light Gurkha kukri (knife) in his belt — • 

 he used to say he was so small that he wanted something 

 to protect himself with. On this festive occasion that kukri 

 came to the fore, and the guests disappeared like the smoke 

 from their own hukkas. Then Yakiib, mad with fury or 

 drink, got into the street, was disarmed by the police and 

 bestowed in the lock-up — whence I had to bail him out 

 at midnight. I had subsequently to part with him, on 

 account of weakness for liquor. He then tried his fortune 

 in the Central Provinces, came back, got among his nawab 

 set again, and in six mouths drank himself to death. I 

 am afraid the distinguished company he kept was his ruin. 

 At anyrate they deprived me of a servant whose like I 

 shall never see again. 



