CHOICE OF SHOOTING GROUND 



Now the place that both Merewether and Abdulla 

 recommended me to go to was the Haramosh district 

 in Baltistan. They said I should probably get markhor 

 and certainly red bear^ and ibex there, Abdulla 

 knew the country well, but his ideas of geography were 

 so exceedingly vague, that it was impossible even with 

 the map before us to correctly locate the spot. We 

 found the Haramosh mountain, but could nowhere dis- 

 cover Sarsal or Darsu, or any of the other villages he 

 named. Consequently it was not till I reached Rondu 

 that I really began to guess where we were going, and 

 not till I got to Sarsal that I found out that Haramosh 

 was really a vague name for a large district, and not a 

 nala at all, as I all along till then had considered it to be. 

 However, though I could not find the place on the map, 

 I agreed to follow Abdulla's lead, and accordingly, when 

 I got to Sopur I sent the shikari, by Merewether's 

 advice, on to Srinagar by land, and directed him to 

 engage a cook and eight permanent coolies for me. The 

 latter, I was told, would not only carry loads like tempor- 

 ary coolies, but would be useful in camp for cutting wood, 

 bringing water, making grass shoes, going with letters, 

 and other miscellaneous duties, and Abdulla asserted 

 that I could not manage with less than eight. This was 

 entirely wrong, as I subsequently found out ; but not 

 knowing any better then, I let the shikari have his way. 



Abdulla having been sent off, we discussed the 

 possibility of my wife's accompanying me. It had been 

 our intention to go to the shooting nalas together, and 

 all our arrangements in the way of tents, stores, etc., had 



' Ursus isabellinits. 



