SNARING THE " KUSTOORA. 89 



of hiss. As musk is the principal ingredient used throughout 

 the civilised world in the manufacture of most perfumes, a good 

 musk-pod sells for sixteen rupees, or more. These little ani- 

 mals are therefore more sought after than any other game by 

 the natives, who capture them mostly by snaring, in the fol- 

 lowing manner : A low fence is made of boughs, &c., along the 

 ridge of a hill, sometimes a mile or more in length. At inter- 

 vals of 100 or 150 yards are gaps. The musk-deer, crossing 

 the ridge from one valley to another, come across this fence, 

 and to save themselves the trouble of jumping over it, walk 

 alongside until, seeing a little gap, they try to go through it. 

 But in each gap a noose of strong string is placed on the 

 ground, and tied to a stout sapling, bent downwards. The 

 noose is so arranged that, when the deer tread inside it, the 

 sapling is loosed and flies back, leaving the noose tied tightly 

 round the animal's leg. The people visit these fences every 

 two or three days, and secure the deer thus caught, and repair 

 the fences and nooses, which are often carried away or de- 

 stroyed by larger game. 



The musk-deer I had shot was unfortunately a doe. Al- 

 though not so good as a specimen, it was better for the pot 

 than a buck, the flesh of which is apt to be tainted with the 

 flavour of musk. 



Snow now began falling in feathery flakes as we struck 

 down into the dark forest of tall and straight black-looking 

 conifers that almost invariably clothe the northern expos- 

 ures of the higher ranges on the south side of the great snowy 

 chain. Here the ground was thickly covered with old snow, 

 in which the tracks of jurrow were numerous ; but as the day 

 was now growing old, and we had still a long way to go, there 

 was no time to search for the animals that made them. It 

 was tiresome work plodding through the snow, which in many 

 places was knee-deep, until, lower down, we got clear of it. 

 As we descended, the falling snow changed to sleet, and 

 eventually to heavy rain. Although the rest of the way was 



