XXVII WRITING MATERIALS 479 



when near game, I prevented any danger of the dinking 

 sound that might have revealed my presence. 



Ink I carried in a stone bottle in the kilta with the 

 stores, but I had a small supply in my brief bag, in a 

 square leather-covered travelling ink-bottle with double 

 top. A string attached to the little handle, and tied 

 round this ink - bottle, prevented all danger of its 

 opening by accidental pressure on the spring. I always 

 used Swan Fountain pens, and carried one in the brief 

 bag, and one in a receptacle made for it in the breast 

 pocket of my jacket. A common cork, with a hole large 

 enough for the pen, driven through it lengthways, and 

 then thinned a little with a pen-knife, makes a pleasant 

 hold for the fingers, and prevents them from being inked. 

 Writing-paper and blotting-paper were also carried in the 

 brief bag, and notes of what occurred could thus be jotted 

 down while everything was fresh in the memory. 



The Letts's Diary recommended will be found a very 

 convenient size. 



Good maps of the area to be shot over are most 

 necessary. The best for Kashmir are the sheets of the 

 Atlas of India, which are on the scale of 4 miles to the 

 inch. It is well to get an index map first, and pick out 

 from this the particular sheets that are required. These 

 should be obtained, for convenience sake, folded up and 

 bound in cloth boards. Messrs. Thacker, Spink, and 

 Co. of Calcutta supplied mine in this shape. As far 

 as possible the maps should be in quarter sheets. On 

 the outside of each it is well to paste a slip of paper 

 showing what quarter sheet it is, and the principal places 

 that are shown on it. This saves much trouble in hunt- 



