260 THE YAK. 



the foot of the hill. I yell at him, calling him no 

 shikarry, a soor, &c., and, in a frantic state, urge them 

 on. The hull, ever gaining ground upwards, at last 

 disappears over the ridge. Suhhan, having gained hut 

 half-way, there stops, and halloos Phuttoo down helow, 

 and a short conversation takes place. Mooktoo, of course, 

 stops and joins in. I vociferate, and abuse them all. 

 Suhhan is asking Phuttoo to send a man with food after 

 him. Now they crawled on, seeming to make no progress, 

 and constantly pausing ; and, full half an hour after the 

 hull, Subhan went over the ridge on his tracks Mooktoo 

 in another half-hour. Phuttoo and I sat down. He 

 said, they must secure the brute, there could be no doubt 

 of it. Having known them fail so often in pursuit of 

 mortally wounded animals, I had my doubts. Phuttoo 

 was sanguine. 



Now came up Tar-gness and the coolie with breakfast ; 

 the former, remarking on the roaring breath of the bull, 

 which he had heard a mile off, said he was hit in the 

 lungs, and must die. We despatched him also in pursuit, 

 and, when half-way up, he turned to tell us there was a 

 quantity of blood. We waited here till 4 P.M. ; and 

 then, believing the hunters would return by another route, 

 whether successful or not, we moved down to camp. The 

 Yarkandi had joined in the pursuit, so we were satisfied 

 on the score of their coming back the best road. We 

 gained the bivouac, and Abdool, soon after, hove in sight. 

 He said, they had as yet received no supplies whatever 

 from passers by, and I now learned that there were but 

 some six seers of corn. I made up my mind to go to the 

 old Yarkandi's village, and there obtain supplies ; dined, 

 and remained anxiously looking for the hunters. About 

 six o'clock the Yarkandi came in alone. The bull, he 

 said, had escaped, and the shikarries had stopped behind ; 



