SHEEP AND GOATS 241 



hunter sighted them he took his eagle under his arm, 

 dug his heels into his pony's ribs, and went for them 

 as hard as he could go, I naturally following. The 

 gazelles stood for a little time gazing at us in surprise, 

 and then turned tail and made off. When this 

 happened (I suppose we had got within 100 yards of 

 them) my hunter cast off the eagle at them, and off 

 went the bird flapping quite near the ground. We 

 followed best pace. At first I thought the bird 

 would never catch one, he seemed to go slowly. He 

 did, though, and after a chase of a few hundred yards 

 he caught one behind and pulled him down. My 

 hunter, who was well up with the chase, was off his 

 pony and on to the quarry in a trice, and finished 

 him with his knife. He told me that he was only 

 just in time, since the eagle, strong as he is, cannot 

 hold the gazelle for long. I saw this proved shortly 

 afterwards : we were not quite up to time, the beast 

 had kicked off the eagle, and made off, leaving him 

 screaming with rage on the ground. When this 

 happens, the eagle never attempts to get up and 

 resume the chase. Foxes and hares are also caught 

 by the barcoot, as the eagle is called, 



OviS HODGSONI 



Some years ago Hundes, a district of Chinese Tibet, 

 was one of the best hunting grounds for these sheep. 

 Being under the Lhassa rule, a good deal of diplomacy 

 had to be employed to get permission from the 

 Jompoon, as the commissioner of this province is 



