AN UNSUCCESSFUL STALK 321 



hours after sunrise. This was quite the worst experience 

 I had during this trip. 



A good sleep in the morning, and a good square meal 

 after it, made all the difference, and I felt so fit that by 

 noon I was on the hillside with Bow Singh, on the hunt 

 for rams. It was some time before we viewed any game, 

 but towards evening five rams were sighted, and Bow 

 Singh conducted the stalk. He went well, but made the 

 common blunder of approaching the game from leloiv. 

 The consequence was, that when I got behind a rock 

 within shot, and attempted to cover the game, I was dis- 

 covered, and the animals stampeded. I had a hasty shot, 

 and the barhal were round a swell and out of sight in a 

 second. When they were next in view they were a long 

 way off, and the shots I fired had no effect ; this was 

 most disappointing, as there were a couple of good heads 

 in the flock, and there was no meat in camp, and every- 

 one was clamorous. The mutton bagged at Puling 

 Siimdo had vanished within two days, for the Baltis ate 

 nothing else while the meat lasted. After this failure 

 we worked up to the ridge, and saw on the opposite slope 

 no fewer than twenty large rams grazing in various 

 directions, but not far from each other. This was a grand 

 sight. It was too late to attempt a stalk, however, so we 

 returned to camp. 



I enjoyed the luxury of a pony to ride up the ascent 

 next morning. Shortly after dismounting we came across a 

 flock of ewes, and, as the demand for meat was in my mind, 

 I shot two. The sun had not touched the hill as yet, 

 and a damp mist hung on the ground. My firing so 

 bewildered the ewes that they forgot to bolt. After the 

 first shot they ran a few yards, jumped on rocks and 

 stared at me, not a hundred yards off ; I could have 

 slaughtered half a dozen. We crossed the ridge and went 

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