2 HIMALAYAN SCENERY AND SPORT. 



peak of this mountain-chain is to Hindoos an object of more 

 or less veneration, this term,^ which signifies " Hindoo moun- , 

 tain," is, I think, quite as apposite, though perhaps not sol 

 pretty as Himaldya — derived, it is said, from two Sanskrit! 

 words, hima and ayala, " abode of snow." 



It is now generally accepted as a well-established fact,! 

 that these great northern bulwarks of Hindustan, and their 

 vicinity, contain hunting-grounds which may be classed 

 among the best that are known. For grandeur of scenery, 

 the Himalayas stand unrivalled. Dame Nature has, indeed, 

 been more lavish of her charms here than in any other part 

 of the universe. That these are not exaggerated assertions, 

 the many interesting records that have already been written 

 on the well-worn though inexhaustible subjects of Himalayan 

 travel and sport bear ample testimony, and render the fol- 

 lowing humble attempt to describe some of my own un- 

 scientific wanderings and experiences quite unnecessary for 

 this purpose. 



Long ere I was old enough to handle a gun, an innate 

 love of the pursuit of the fe^-co naturae found vent in trap- 

 ping birds by the numerous means devised in the youthful 

 mind, and in rambling in quest of their eggs ; rat-hunting 

 at the dismantling of a corn-stack, the wild excitement of 

 which, I then thought, nothing could surpass ; and suchlike 

 ways of indulging juvenile sporting instincts. I doubt 

 whether the keen delight felt on killing my first game-bird 

 — a woodcock — has in all my shooting experiences been 

 equalled. To my good fortune in having been a Goorkha, 

 so to speak, during the whole of my service in India, is due 

 the fact of my having had such opportunities of fostering 

 this taste for wandering and wild sport as seldom fall to the 

 lot of the sojourner in the far East. For the Goorkha bat- 

 talions are generally quartered either in or near the Hima- 



1 Koh being the Persian for "mountain," this name probably originated 

 with the more western Asiatics. The range was known to ancient European 

 geographers as Einodos and Imaus, 



