THE OUTER HIMALAYAH. 9 



with straining heads attempted to drink the bright, 

 black water. We hurried them through, and soon, 

 high on a steep ascent, the rippling of the brook was 

 lost in the sharp ringing of their hoofs on the hard 

 road. We were now half way, and on the crest of a hill 

 before us the white clothing of our syces was dis- 

 cernible. The steep ascent was soon gained, the saddles 

 were quickly transferred from the tired to the fresh 

 ponies, and we were ready for another start. The road 

 now became steep and narrow, so we proceeded leisurely 

 and had time to notice the surrounding scenery. 



High in the front, the snow-capped mountains reared 

 their heads, towering above the adjacent hills ; their 

 sides bare, rugged, and volcanic, but softened by the 

 rosy tint from the setting sun, while the lower range, 

 studded with the hardy fir and holly, where the sports- 

 man finds the gooral,* bear, and leopard, with pheasants 

 of the gayest plumage, were now deepened with a 

 purple haze.f Behind us, the view stretched as far as 



* The chamois of the Himalayan. 



f In the hills around the Kangra Valley, game, both large and 

 small, is to be met with in abundance. On the northern slope of the 

 great range which separates the valley from Chumba (an independent 

 State under a native prince), bears, both black and brown, leopards, 

 tahir (a variety of the wild goat), and gooral (the Himalayan chamois), 

 exist in great numbers ; musk-deer are also found in the forests, with 

 which these hills are, in many places, covered. 



If the sportsman wishes to gain such a prize as the magnificent 

 horns of the ibex, he must go some distance farther into the interior, 

 as these animals are very shy, and live on hills of great elevation, 

 where snow lies the greater part of the year. Pheasants, partridges, 

 jungle fowl (the barn-door fowl in a state of nature), quail, wild duck, 

 snipe, and hares, are to be found in the valley in great numbers, as 

 also are gooral and kakar, or the barking deer. The rivers teem 



