FRUITLESS STALK 97 



almost too much for AbduUa, who was not, I found, at 

 all a good cragsman. One place he said to me was im- 

 possible, and went round another way himself, but I got 

 down without much trouble. He seemed to have no 

 idea of how to use his hands in places where it was 

 necessary to cling on all one knew, and on more than 

 one occasion had to get Zaru to help him. Chand was 

 left at a convenient spot above while we went clown. 



Our climb, however, was to no purpose. We hung 

 down over the rocks, and peered into every nook and 

 cranny that was visible, but saw nothing of the markhor. 

 So about eleven we climbed back and had breakfast 

 where Chand was, and waited for evening. But the mark- 

 hor never showed, and the only way I can account for 

 their disappearance is by supposing that they got our 

 wind and made off. We made a mistake, too, in taking 

 our eyes off them while they were in motion. We ought 

 to have seen them settle themselves for the day before 

 we started in pursuit. We could then have marked down 

 the particular rocks under which they lay. 



The sunrises and sunsets about this time were 

 peculiarly magnificent. The five giants at the head 

 of the Jutyal glacier were glorious objects as the sun 

 broke upon them each day, brilliant peaks of exquisite 

 whiteness, backed by the peculiar deep blue of the 

 sky at these altitudes. In the evenings Haramosh 

 peak was the special object of interest, lighted up as it 

 generally was by the setting sun. The view of this 

 magnificent mountain, which I got from the Burme 

 Range, was not, however, equal to that I had d^ily before 

 me in the Khaltar and Kutyal nalas, for here I saw as 



H 



