THE GAME OF THE PLAINS 587 



see nothing of a stag, went off with the Yuzbeggie in the 

 afternoon to try for another jeran. I was mooning along 

 thinking of something else, when all of a sudden the 

 Yuzbeggie started off as hard as he could gallop across 

 the maidan (plain). I followed suit, and soon made out 

 a doe- jeran in the distance. It stood and looked at us 

 in amazement, and then cantered off, not very fast, 

 while we still continued our headlong career, every now 

 and then floundering on to our noses over a tussock of 

 grass or into a hole hidden by the snow, until we got to 

 about a hundred yards from our game, which only then 

 realized the situation, and extended its stride. The 

 shikari now hurled the eagle, which he had unhooded and 

 held clasped to his breast during the run, at the jeran. 

 The eagle, instead of rising like a falcon and sweeping on 

 its prey, flapped along with its great wings quite close 

 to the ground ; and, although it seemed to fly very slowly, 

 gradually caught up the jeran, which was impeded in 

 its course by the high grass, and at last grabbed it by 

 the rump with its strong talons. It regularly dragged 

 the deer down, and held on for some time, the little 

 gazelle kicking out like mad. We still galloped on, 

 and I wondered what the finish would be. The shikari, 

 when he got up to them, without drawing rein threw 

 himself off his pony, and grabbed the deer by the hind- 

 leg, just as it had kicked itself free, and, pulling out his 

 knife, cut its throat." 



In addition to gazelle, hares, foxes, and even wolves 

 are killed by means of the golden eagle ; but, in the case 

 of wolves, dogs are generally used to assist the bird. 



Towards the end of April, with the exploration of 

 the Karlik Tagh completed, and the rigours of the 

 winter well behind us, we were able to devote the re- 



