Black Partridges 19 



the village. All seemed to have an insatiable 

 thirst for empty cases and an absolute disregard 

 for their own safety. One often saw a head bob 

 over a wall in a line with a partridge and one's 

 levelled gun ; and on the whole I think we were 

 lucky never to have had a casualty, which, in 

 the inflammable air of Seistan, would have been 

 awkward. 



As to the shooting, it was a disputed point 

 whether walking across or down the ridges gave 

 the best results. The latter had the advantage 

 of easier walking, but the birds were apt to run 

 along to the walls at the end, where they would 

 all get up in a bunch. The cunning old cocks, 

 too, had a way of popping over the walls without 

 giving away any chances. It was, however, 

 excellent fun, and the shooting was of a more 

 sporting and difficult kind than the same birds 

 walked up in the open. 



The better class Seistani * is not a very lovable 

 character as a rule, but it is only justice to the 

 owners of these gardens to say that they rarely 

 made difficulties about our shooting in them, and 

 frequently did their best to show us sport. The 

 only times, in fact, that we were not welcomed, 



1 In the East it is not uncommon to find the labouring classes on 

 the whole more estimable characters than those who are higher in 

 the social scale. 



