26o SPORT IiV THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



the two shikaris and a man with a pony, to track the 

 wounded ram. The orrass of the ravine soon ceased, 

 and we found ourselves on boulders of granite, and 

 had a hard climb up to the peak above us, which 

 must have been about 18,500 feet, as it looked but little 

 lower than Rukchen, which was not far off. Between 

 the boulders there were patches of ground made up of 

 disintegrated granite, which got in between my chaplis 

 and leather socks, and did not add to the pleasure of 

 walking. The pony could not, after a short time, get 

 up at all, so the coolie in charge tied him to a rock and 

 came on. 



Owing to the altitude, the Kashmiri and I soon had 

 bad mountain headaches, and by the time we reached the 

 summit were more disposed to lie down than to stalk Ovis 

 aimnon. The blood tracks ceased at the top, but just as 

 we got there we caught sight of a ram disappearing over 

 a ridge beyond, and we knew then the direction the herd 

 had taken. 



Examining the hillside below us, we saw three rams, 

 grazing about a mile and a half off, in a position where 

 stalking was out of the question. Looking at them 

 through the telescope, I perceived that they were better 

 than any I had yet seen, but as they were surrounded 

 on all sides by at least a mile of open ground without a 

 particle of cover, it was quite hopeless attempting to get 

 near them. I noticed, however, after watching for half 

 an hour or so, that the three were slowly feeding their way 

 up towards us, and it struck me that it might possibly be 

 their intention to cross the ridge we were on, at a point 

 about a quarter of a mile to our right, where there was 



