VI V/ANT OF A TELESCOPE 89 



Those who have missed an easy shot at a beast they 

 have travelled some hundreds of miles to secure will 

 alone appreciate my feelings as I turned to follow the 

 disgusted shikari up the hill. Curious to relate, he 

 attributed the miss to the little rifle, not to me, and 

 said that if I had had the Express, I should have secured 

 that markhor. The little rifle, he said, was much too 

 small to be of any use, and I must certainly' use the 

 larger one the next chance I got. I was too sick to 

 argue with him, and so, rejoining the other two men, we 

 proceeded further up the main ridge, going slowly and 

 examining the hillsides with our glasses as we went. I 

 had two pair of binoculars with me, and greatly regretted 

 that I had no telescope. One of the binoculars was a 

 very good glass and had cost twelve guineas, but though 

 excellent for a general search, it was not good enough 

 to show the size of the horns of an animal over a mile 

 or so away. A really good telescope is wanted for this 

 purpose, and I resolved to send for one. 



At 10.30 A.M. we sat down for the mid-day halt as 

 usual, and after breakfast, about two o'clock, Abdulla 

 and Zaru went to different points from which a good 

 view was obtainable, and sitting down began searching 

 the hillsides closely. About half- past four Abdulla 

 beckoned to me, and when I got up to him, said — " I 

 have found good ones at last." Raising the glasses to 

 five yellowish spots which he pointed out on an oppo- 

 site hill, and looking carefully I perceived that these 

 were markhor grazing their way down, " But how do 

 you know," I said, " that they have good horns ? " " By 

 the colour," he replied. "An old markhor is always 



