STORMY WEATHER. 



103 



A pair oj Poo las. 



or poolas, as they are called, are made of thin rope of twisted 

 rice-straw, and when that is not procurable, of grass, or 

 twisted strips of thin wet bark. As they only stand at most 

 one day's hard walk- 

 ing, a great many 

 pairs are worn out ; 

 but the Cashmerees 

 can make a pair in 

 an hour or so. 



For the next day 

 or two the rain, snow, 

 and thunderstorms 

 were so incessant, 

 and the mist clung 

 so const-antly to the 

 mountain-sides, that 

 hunting was impos- 

 sible. We made an 

 attempt one morning to go up after ibex, but were soon 

 beaten back by a blinding snowstorm. I wounded a bear 

 that had wandered close to our camp, but lost him. To add 

 to our troubles, I found that our stock of rice was getting 

 exhausted, and a man I had sent down to fetch more from 

 Marroo, the nearest place where it was procurable, had 

 returned without it. 



A consultation was now held, when it was agreed that we 

 should make for Marroo, by a way known to Kamzan over 

 the heights at the head of the glen we were in, hunting en 

 route, and after having there replenished our stock of pro- 

 visions, return to our ground. We accordingly moved the 

 camp on somewhat nearer this pass, intending to cross it 

 next morning. 



Towards evening I started out for a stroll up the bottom 

 of the glen in hopes of getting a shot at an old Bruin. We 

 had not to go far ere we espied three in company, but they 

 managed to wind us before we could get within half a mile 



