156 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



the heads to Jutyal, Abdulla and I went on. We were 

 making towards some bare precipitous rocks, amongst 

 which it seemed hkely that we should find markhor. 

 Getting above them we searched long and anxiously, 

 but saw nothing, and then as it began to grow late 

 started downwards. The ground was exceedingly bad, 

 and the climbing as difficult as any I have done. 



We were on a spur stretching out from the main 

 range, at right angles to it and the bed of the stream, 

 and the sides were too precipitous where it started to 

 allow of our going down. It was, of course, impossible 

 to say from where we were whether the end towards the 

 river was a gentle slope or a sharp drop, as owing to 

 the masses of rock which lay piled up all over it, we 

 could not make out what it was like. It was only 

 possible to see for a short distance at a time, for a 

 number of old pines and cedars had contrived to find 

 growing room in the crevices of the rocks at the crest, 

 and these largely obstructed the view. Repeatedly we 

 were obliged to turn back on finding that the route we 

 had chosen ended in a sheer drop, and I began to 

 consider how it would be when it got dark if we were 

 not clear of the spur by that time. A fire was all we 

 could count on having, for we had come across no water, 

 and the snow was far behind us. Of course we had 

 nothing with us to eat and no bedding, so a night on 

 that crest promised to be very cheerless. We could not 

 even retrace our steps, for we had come down places 

 which we certainly could not have gone up without 

 assistance in the shape of ropes and ladders. One 

 place which involved going round and up a precipitous 



