128 



IX. Wild Sheep in Seistan. 



JJ 



" The hunter does not bag shikar every day. 

 Some day it may happen that a panther will bag him ! " 



SAADI. 



MY shooting -camp was at a place called Baluch- 

 ab, in the range locally known as the "Panther 

 hills." 1 How the range obtained this name I do 

 not know. Panthers do exist there certainly, 

 as they exist practically in all Persian hills, 

 but they are very scarce. I, personally, have 

 never done more than see their fresh tracks, 

 and those who take their flocks there, who 

 should know if any one does, tell me that they 

 perhaps see two in the year. I deem this 

 amount of explanation necessary, lest the reader 

 should anticipate from the couplet that heads 

 this chapter some exciting episode in which a 

 panther is chief performer. As a matter of 



1 See Appendix I. 



