The Bujnurd Sheep 1 8 5 



opposite side of which the shikaris saw some 

 wild sheep with one ram. I had at the time 

 no idea these were other than the ordinary wild 

 sheep of Persia, Ovis vigni, well known under 

 the Punjab name of urial. Being very anxious 

 not to risk losing the stag, I decided not to 

 take the very long shot to which the shikaris 

 urged me, or to bother about him at all. This 

 seemed to disgust them. "What sort of shooting 

 was this ? " they asked. "The stag had gone 

 into the forest, we should never see him again. 

 I had wantonly thrown away God-given shikar. 

 They themselves could have shot the ram from 

 that distance " (about three hundred yards !), and 

 much more to the same purpose. 



Going on, we found the deer had crossed a 

 stony ridge and had gone down into a big forest- 

 filled valley a mile or more in breadth. What 

 was to done ? According to the hunters, it was 

 hopeless to follow the beasts in the forest though 

 I now think this would have been my best chance 

 and the only thing was to take up a command- 

 ing position and hope to see the deer come out 

 on to the open spaces towards evening. Though 

 I intensely disliked the idea of wasting the 

 glorious day in idleness, the course suggested 

 seemed sound, and after climbing up to a high 

 point, we took up a position whence we could 



