STALKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 153 



deposited under the sea at a time when the mountains 

 of Central India stood alone as an island, on an ocean 

 bounded by the Himalayas. If they were subject to 

 snow and ice, their soft rocks would soon crumble into 

 undulating downs. Even now, they have the appearance 

 of gradually washing away, and every slope is ankle-deep 

 with the loose stone debris from above. This makes 

 stalking very difficult, for it is almost impossible to 

 walk silently. In places, what look like little stone tiles 

 thickly cover the ground, and at every step rattle 

 against each other like castanets. 



Amongst the ravines of these hills are found the 

 oorial, a species of wild sheep, which under different 

 names inhabits the mountains bordering the Indus from 

 Ladak to Sindh. Although classed as sheep, they have 

 bttle or no likeness to the domestic species. The does 

 especially resemble rather an antelope or gazelle. The 

 ram is of a light reddish-brown, becoming gray in old 

 age ; and his coat is of hair, not wool, with a beard in 

 front like the ruff of a colley dog. The horns are thick, 

 and curved somewhat like a common ram's, and in good 

 specimens average from twenty-four to twenty-eight 

 inches in length. We heard of one shot on the other 

 side of the Indus with horns said to be thirty-four 

 inches long, but never met anybody who had seen them 

 of this size. 



