1 88 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



On examining the ground there was no blood, and it 

 was pretty clear I had missed. I was naturally awfully 

 disgusted, for a chance at a snow leopard is very rare. 

 If I had anticipated his coming so late, I would have 

 taken up a much nearer position. This was the mistake 

 I made, going too far off; but I was afraid of being too 

 close, lest he might wind or otherwise detect me when 

 approaching the kill, and not come up to it at all. 



The next morning, the 2nd of June, having sent the 

 shikari up the nala, I went to the kill and found that the 

 leopard had been at it during the night ; so I had some 

 boughs put up beside a sloping rock about 6 yards from 

 the body of the bullock, and resolved to sit there that 

 evening. It had rained a good deal during the night, 

 and was raining when, after arranging the screen, I 

 started to follow the shikari up the glen. 



When I reached him it was about eight o'clock, and I 

 found him sheltering from the wet under a tree. He had 

 seen nothing, and the mist was too thick to allow us to 

 examine the hillsides properly ; so I also took what 

 shelter I could find — a hollowed-out bank of earth as it 

 happened — into which I managed to tuck myself, and 

 waited patiently for the rain to stop. It ceased about 

 eleven o'clock, and then I had my breakfast, after which 

 we saw a herd of ibex with three good males, in the snow 

 rather high up. The wind was shifty, but on the whole 

 favourable, and we resolved to try a stalk. The ibex 

 were far above the snow-line, and amongst some rather 

 precipitous rocks. 



We went up a gully well to the left of where the herd 

 was, and found the climb long and steep. Half-way up 



