174 



THE MABKHOR. 



two best shikarees Gamoo and Hatha. The former was 

 a very intelligent little man, with a bright good-humoured 

 countenance ; the latter, who acted under Gamoo's orders, 

 was an active, willing fellow. 



Before proceeding further, it may be as well to give a 

 slight description of the noble animal we were about to seek. 

 The markhor (Capra megaceros), or, in English, snake-eater, 

 so called from his being supposed by the hill-men to be what 

 his name implies, 1 is without doubt the finest animal of the 

 wild-goat tribe. There are several known localities in the 

 northern Himalayas and in the mountains on the north-west 

 frontier where it is met with, besides the comparatively un- 

 known ones more northward, and in each of those known it 

 differs slightly, principally in the shape of the horns. The 



A star and Northern 

 Cashmere ranges. 



Pir Piinchal and 

 Kajnag ranges. 



Sulieinani range. 

 Types of Markhor Horns. 



horns of the variety found on the Pir Punchal and Kajnag 

 ranges, west of the Cashmere valley, have three or four spiral 

 curls in the shape of a cork-screw, and sometimes grow to an 



1 It may not be generally known that goats are ordinarily addicted to 

 snake-eating, so say the highland herdsmen, at any rate. 



