SPORT IN THE TEKKES : IBEX 91 



reach this ground took from one to two hours of pretty 

 stiff climbing from the bottom of the main valley. 



Ibex-shooting is never easy work, but Akjas has 

 one great advantage, which is that the hard part 

 never begins until one has seen the game, and this 

 lightens both heart and labour. One simply rides 

 along the main valley, spying at intervals until 

 something worth going after is viewed, and not till 

 then is it necessary to leave the ponies and proceed 

 on foot. Perhaps to fully appreciate ibex-shooting 

 here, it is necessary to have a previous experience of 

 the toil which their pursuit in Baltistan entails. 



There is one little Akjas to the east and three to 

 the west, all branches of the main valley. Judging 

 by the amount of water which comes out of them, 

 the three latter are all good-sized valleys, and they 

 are said to hold lots of ibex. The size often two 

 to three hundred animals or more and number of 

 the herds really quite beggar description, and, until 

 I actually saw them myself, I confess to having been 

 sceptical on the subject. In the following descrip- 

 tions of the stalking I have not mentioned half the 

 ibex seen, and their very numbers constitute one of 

 the difficulties, as, if one of the herds is disturbed 

 and goes up the hill, the others are pretty sure to 

 see them and do likewise, so that the stalker has to 

 have an eye to other beasts as well as those which 

 are the immediate object of the chase. The open- 

 ness of the grass -slopes is another trouble, and 



