58 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



right bank, it must be a curious misnomer to call it even 

 a track. The Rentons had not arrived when I left, 

 so I missed seeing them. They went, I afterwards 

 learned, to one of the Shigar nalas, and there got ibex. 



When we reached the far bank I opened out some 

 of my loads, and selecting a couple of cooking-pots, two 

 pillows, two blankets, a sleeping bag, a towel, socks, 

 boots, spare chaplis, a tin of bacon, a tin of jam, 

 some tea and sugar, my brief bag, the canteen and 

 the tiffin basket, got Abdulla to make up a couple of 

 light loads. One he placed across his own saddle, and 

 the other and smaller one was attached to mine ; for 

 we had obtained saddles with the ponies, intending to 

 ride them as far as possible. Chand and one of the per- 

 manent coolies, Mahamdu, were directed to follow as 

 fast as possible, with nothing but what they required for 

 themselves. 



About II A.M. Abdulla and I started, leaving Ram- 

 zana in charge of the other loads, with instructions to 

 come along after us as fast as possible. We kept the 

 ponies at a sort of jog-trot wherever the road was at 

 all practicable. About i p.m., after covering some 13 

 miles of ground from the Tehsildar's house, we stopped 

 at the village of Komara and got off our ponies for 

 breakfast. While one of the villagers looked after them, 

 another brought wood, and also lent us a large pot, in 

 which the shikari boiled a couple of eggs for me, and 

 made some tea for himself and the two permanent 

 coolies, who reached us about an hour later. The 

 remains of a fowl cooked for the previous evening's 

 dinner, which Abdulla had brought on, and a few 



