78 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



a place which was rather too far away to reach con- 

 veniently otherwise, and I spent the early part of the 

 morning looking for a blood track, in the existence 

 of which I did not believe. While so engaged I 

 heard a stag call in the heavy forest below, so 

 started after him at once. He kept on calling 

 pretty frequently ; but as he was always on the 

 move it was some time before I got anywhere 

 near him. The country was a steep hillside covered 

 with a primeval forest of pines, and no one who has 

 not tried it can imagine how difficult it is to get over 

 such ground without making a noise. The whole 

 place is covered with dead branches and twigs of all 

 sizes, while every here and there fallen trees form a 

 barrier which necessitates a detour of a length pro- 

 portionate to the size of the obstacle, as dead pines 

 make a chevaux-de-frise through which it is often 

 impossible to get at all, let alone quietly. The 

 sportsman who has done any tracking must have 

 been struck by the extraordinary power which even 

 the largest animals have of getting silently through 

 thick cover, a feat difficult of accomplishment by 

 man anyway, civilised man, who wears clothes 

 which seem specially constructed to catch on twigs 

 or thorns, boots to make his footsteps audible, and 

 is, in addition, encumbered by a rifle. 



However, I gradually gained on the stag, getting 

 at last quite close up, and momentarily expecting 

 to see him ; but the forest was very thick, and I 



