IN THE HIMALAYAS 91 



some extremely pretty snapshots, with flocks of 

 sheep and goats in the foreground, but then, after 

 all, they were shooting into the brown ! 



The shikaris had seen some ibex one evening and 

 said there were some big ones among the herd 

 though I never happened to see a good head in 

 Tilail and I settled to go after them. Nebra, the 

 shikari, two coolies and I started next morning soon 

 after four, and walked for a long way up the Gujrind 

 nullah. After we had climbed for some hours 

 Nebra saw a distant herd of ibex feeding quietly 

 above us on a far hill. He said he thought they 

 were too far away to go after, and we certainly 

 should never arrive at them that day he did not 

 add at my pace, but he looked it ! In the middle 

 of the herd there was a very noticeable white kael 

 who stood out among his khaki-coloured brethren. 

 This rather stirred us up to try, as the coolies said 

 it would bring us all enormous luck, if we could 

 shoot a white kael, no one having seen such a thing 

 before. We determined to have a try for him any- 

 how, and climbed up and up, over very rough 

 ground, running whenever we got a chance and 

 creeping along when we had to cross an open place 

 where we might be seen, and wearing out our grass 

 shoes, which soon got cut through and we had to 

 change for others. 



When we arrived above the level of the herd we 

 saw them on the snow and among the rocks pre- 

 paring to lie down, and Nebra said we must wait 

 too, and watch. It was one o'clock and I was very 

 glad to sit down and have a rest ; I ate my breakfast 



