i 4 2 IBEX SHOOTING 



Then we had to make back for Srinagar 

 as quickly as we could, as we had only just 

 time enough left to get back before my 

 time was up. As we no longer had sup- 

 plies to carry, our loads were light ; and 

 we were able to shove along at our best 

 pace, and got to Metwan without adven- 

 tures, doing two marches a day. The only 

 difficulty we encountered was the crossing 

 of the Zaig river. You will remember that 

 we crossed it before by the snow bridge, 

 which of course had long since melted 

 away, and we were now obliged to con- 

 struct a footbridge over it. It was a pretty 

 roughly made thing, consisting of two pine 

 trees which, felled one from either side of 

 the river, lay side by side bridging the 

 torrent, while for a footway roughly split 

 logs were laid across them, the whole form- 

 ing a path two feet wide. As the split 

 pieces of wood were of all shapes and 

 sizes, and not fastened down in any way, 

 they moved a little underfoot, giving an 

 unpleasant feeling of insecurity, the waters 



