, INDIAN SHOOTING 309 



; they do not become alarmed at the sight of man at a distance ; 

 : but as they are a good deal driven about, especially by the cul- 

 itivators whose crops at the foot of the hills they feed on at 

 [night, no liberties can be taken during the stalk, and the sides of 

 jthe ravines being often excessively steep, good noiseless stalk- 



Iing shoes are requisite. 

 XXXV. OVIS BLANFORDI 



This variety is found in Khelat, and a few specimens have 

 been procured near Quetta. Its horns are described as being 

 longer and more slender than those of O. cycloceros or O. 

 Vignei^ and as having a second twist outwards at the ends. It 

 las a white beard, unlike either shapoo or oorial. 



XXXVI. MARKHOR {Capra megaceros vel Falconeri) 



Native names : 

 Cashmere, ' Markhor ' ; Ladak, ' Rache ' / Astor^ ' Boom ' 



Whether this king among goats deserves his name of ' snake- 



r ' or not is hardly likely to be settled. Shikaris all believe 



markhor do eat snakes, some going as far as to say that 



• suck the snakes out of their holes, and swallow them like 



aroni ; and Colonel Kinloch supports the theory. 



But though some hundreds of markhor have been shot by 



opeans, the fact has hitherto not been proved ; and the 



• -x ventures in all humility to suggest that the tale is derived 



1 some old legend, and refers, in spite of the Persian name 



ch may have become corrupted, to the long snake-like 



■ns. 



He this as it may, an old markhor swaggering along a ledge 

 a precipitous hillside, with his long black beard and white 

 ne floating down to his knees, showing off every inch of his 

 dutiful horns — as no beast knows better how to do, except 

 iiaps a really big stag in the rutting season — is one of the 

 '^t glorious sights in the Himalayas, 

 • The beast looks such a gentleman with his lean head and 



