XXIV LOCALITIES FOR KASHMIR GAME 431 



the Spring. It is generally admitted that the best rams 

 are to be found then, not in the autumn. No one seems 

 to know where they disappear to in the summer. The 

 best available information on the subject of the localities 

 of game, is to be found in Colonel Ward's book, The 

 Sportsjjiaii s Gttidc to Kashmir and Laddk, published, I 

 believe, by the Calcutta Central Press Company. The 

 latest edition should be got, for much of what is said in 

 the older editions no longer applies, so rapidly are the 

 circumstances changing which are connected with shoot- 

 inof in Kashmir. 



If the sportsman decides to go in the spring, it is 

 impossible for him to get in too early. The competition 

 for good nalas is very keen, and the racing for them spoils, 

 to a very large extent, the pleasure of the trip. Never- 

 theless, there is nothing for it but to race. The moment 

 the passes into Kashmir are open, the sportsman who 

 thinks it worth while to go to some trouble for a good 

 nala, should cross. I was in Srinagar by the 24th of 

 March, but over a dozen, perhaps twenty, men had by 

 that date left for the shooting grounds. It was more by 

 good luck, than good management, that I succeeded in 

 reaching Haramosh in time. If the sportsmen in front 

 of me had not stopped at nearer nalas, I should never 

 have succeeded. And if I had not got there, I should 

 certainly not have got a markhor. 



After getting in early, the sportsman should spend as 

 short a time as possible in Srinagar. One day ought to 

 be enough, unless he requires a puttoo suit or two, in 

 which case he may have to wait a second. Then, leaving 

 tents, boxes, and all his heavier baggage to follow, he 



