THE GREAT CHIR PINE FOREST 187 



yellowish colour makes them hard to see against the burnt 

 and yellow grass and gray rocks. At last we round a 

 corner, and on the next ridge on a jutting rock there stands 

 a fine old buck, about as big as a goat, sharp against the 

 eastern sky, there being just Ught enough to sight him. 

 There are three others with kids, grazing on the slope 

 between the rocks, quietly picking at the greenest spots. 

 They are within easy shot, but the buck is the more tempt- 

 ing, and he is over 100 yards away. Presently they move 

 upwards, as if scenting danger, and one gives a short, sharp 

 sort of sneeze. There is no time to delay, so we put up the 

 100 yards sight and take a steady shot at the buck. He 

 is struck, and falls straight down into the khud below. The 

 females dart with frantic speed down the slope, and dis- 

 appear with desperate bounds apparently into clear space. 



The gooral, sometimes called han hakri — ' wild goat ' 

 — is about the same size as a chamois, and resembles that 

 animal very much ; but is, I think, a somewhat slighter 

 and less angularly built beast. The horns of the chamois 

 are set at quite a different angle, pointing much more 

 forward, and the curve is more of a hook. For eating 

 purposes they are much alike. Having stalked and shot 

 both, I consider the sport very similar ; but the gooral 

 lives on grassy slopes preferably, while the chamois 

 delights in rocky precipices near the snow-line, correspond- 

 ing in that respect with the more alpine thar. The 

 gooral has no beard, and its tail is black. 



To bring him to bag it is necessary to be a first-rate 

 cragsman, and to wear either boots, with big nails or 

 spikes, or grass shoes. On first ascending the hills, the 

 passage along the edges of the khud is rather alarming ; 

 but custom soon steadies the nerves, and the most timid 

 will look down enormous depths with perfect callousness. 

 I possessed several gunt ponies, and they all preferred to 



