A MARKHOR AT COURT. 225 



sometimes attended with even more difficulty and danger 

 than that of ibex for the earth in such places is often so fri- 

 able, loose, and rotten, and the short dry grass is so smooth 

 and slippery, as to make the footing there most treacherous. 

 Even in the depth of winter the old bucks seldom quit their 

 fastnesses, where they are said then to subsist chiefly on 

 pine-shoots. 



The following extract from a memorandum by the late 

 Colonel T. G. Montgomerie, E.E., on the progress of the 

 Trigonometrical Survey of Cashmere, will give a good idea 

 of the imposing appearance of the markhor : " Among the 

 minor results of the expedition l was a great influx of presents 

 to the Maharajah from all the chiefs between Gilgit and 

 Kafiristan. Perhaps the most valuable in the eyes of the 

 Curator of the Asiatic Society's Museum, would have been a 

 splendid live male specimen of the markhor, the greatest prize 

 of Himalayan sportsmen. This animal was introduced into 

 the full durbar, guided by four men with guy ropes. It was 

 really a handsome animal, of a light fawn colour, with a 

 capital pair of horns, and a fine long beard. The top of the 

 rnarkhor's head was, perhaps, 5^ feet from the ground, the 

 horns towering up above all the men in attendance. The 

 keepers of this animal evidently held him in the highest 

 respect, though he had been a captive for at least two months. 

 This markhor was a present from the chiefs of Kholi, Palus, 

 on the Indus." 



Trusting that my imperfect description of the " king of 

 wild goats," as Gamoo called him, may have given some 

 idea of his appearance and habits, we will now start for 

 his wild domain. 



Gamoo's intention was first to make straight for a remote 

 and lonely tract of the mountains, where he thought the big 

 old bucks were pretty sure to be found at that season June 

 and which it would take us at least three days to reach. 



1 Maharajah Gholab Sing's expedition against Gilgit in 1860. 

 P 



