A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



good nalahs are few, which accounts for the racing ; 

 and it shows what an Englishman will go through 

 to obtain good sport, more power to him ! It is, 

 indeed, a healthy sign when our young officers 

 prefer the hardships and victories, or I might even 

 say defeats, of a sporting trip in the Himalaya to 

 any other form of amusement ; and as a means of 

 promoting the soldier-like qualities of coolness, 

 self-reliance, and pluck, an expedition amongst the 

 mountains of the Northern Barrier of our Indian 

 Empire cannot be overrated ; in fact, the officer 

 who has pursued the wild game of the Himalaya 

 must feel himself more at home when engaged in 

 one of the frequent expeditions against turbulent 

 tribes, which is so often the lot of our soldiers in 

 India, than if he had spent his leave in the plains, 

 or enjoying the more Capuan life of hill-stations. 



Perhaps he may find himself stalking human 

 game over the very ground where he has stalked 

 ibex, plus the excitement supplied by the fact that 

 human game occasionally return his shot, which 

 ibex never do ! But to return to our journey. At 

 Khalsi there is a clean and comfortable bungalow, 

 built on the rising ground above the village by the 

 Commissioner. This is kept religiously closed, but 

 the " Perwana" proved a veritable "open sesame," 

 and I found myself sleeping that night under a 

 roof, for the first time since I left the Murree road 

 some three months before. I was not sorry that 



this was so that night, as the rain descended in 



1 06 



