252 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



thought that the game was close, though we could see a 

 very long way round, and there was nothing visible. 



After following the track for a quarter of a mile, one 

 of the pony-men pointed to a greenish patch more than 

 a mile away, and the lot of us instantly sat down, as 

 we could see a few specks moving about on it. The 

 glasses showed these to be the five rams. They were 

 grazing on a small patch of green stuff on a wide open 

 hillside, and were apparently feeding upwards. Two 

 masses of rock stood out from this hillside, and we 

 thought that if we could get behind the nearer of these 

 we could possibly get a shot If the rams fed up towards 

 it. In any case this was the only chance, as there 

 was not a particle of cover anywhere else. So we 

 went back till we were out of sight on the other side of 

 the Pass, and leaving the ponies in a grassy hollow 

 commenced our stalk. 



We were sheltered by the Pass to a certain extent, 

 but the wind was behind us and there was great danger 

 of the sheep scenting us. When we got to the rocks 

 Abdulla and I took off our chaplis, and went on in 

 our leather socks. 



But all our precautions were in vain, for when we 

 peered cautiously round and examined the green patch 

 on which the game had been, there was nothing there ! 

 Evidently we had been winded by these keen-scented 

 animals and they had fled. Much disappointed, we sat 

 down to breakfast, the men making a fire of kyang and 

 yak droppings and the roots of dapshang. 



After breakfast we followed the track of the sheep 

 for a while, but as it led directly away from the camp. 





