THE GOORAL. 35 



and gaze in doubt, giving ample time for a steady aim, or 

 stop to look back after going a short distance. 



After dinner, and a pipe beside the camp-fire, I turned in 

 pretty early, as the " bear-slayer" had informed me that if 

 we expected to see " gooral " we must be up near the summit 

 of Dhuj teeba (hill) about sunrise. Before proceeding fur- 

 ther in search of the Nenwrlicedus goral of natural history, a 

 slight sketch of this " Himalayan chamois," as it is some- 

 times called, may not be out of place. The ordinary height 

 of a full-grown buck is about 28 inches at the shoulder. 

 The colour of its short rough coat is usually a uniform grey- 

 ish brown, with a white patch on the throat. Its legs are 

 sturdy and goat-like, and of a 

 darker brown than the body. 

 Both sexes carry short black 

 horns, those of the full-grown 

 buck being sometimes 7 inches 

 or so long, annulated from the 

 base to about half their length, 

 and slightly curved backwards. 

 The doe is similar to the buck 

 in appearance, except as regards 

 her horns, which are thinner, 

 smoother, and shorter. I once Head of "Gooral? or Himalayan 

 saw the skin of a pure albino 



gooral which was shot in the Kumaori hills. The natives 

 who lived near its haunt had a superstitious idea that the 

 killing of this animal would be attended with bad luck to 

 the slayer. And, strange to say, the experienced and well- 

 known sportsman who shot it, on the same day met with a 

 serious gun accident. This curious coincidence is no camp- 

 fire yarn, for the sportsman was an old and intimate friend, 

 and I saw him shortly after the accident happened. The 

 gooral is found all over the Himalayan ranges, from the 

 higher to the lower and outer ones, but seldom below an 

 1000 feet, and always on craggy and precipitous 



