182 HERD OF MARKHOR. 



lot of dry pine-logs were collected in a heap, and as the 

 shades of night gathered in, a huge bonfire was cheerily 

 crackling and blazing away, dispelling the surrounding 

 darkness, as the ruddy glow was reflected on the nearer 

 pine stems and branches, or penetrated into the gloomy 

 recesses of the forest. A tin-can of soup was soon heating 

 over the fire, and thick cakes were placed under the hot 

 ashes to bake, first having been wrapped up in several 

 layers of fresh birch-bark,^ which gives them a nice flavour 

 and prevents their being burnt. In this manner the evening 

 meal was not long in being prepared, and discussed with a 

 relish seldom experienced except under such circumstances. 

 The fragrant weed was lit, and a lump of snow put into the 

 kettle to boil, and a glass of " hot with " mixed, ere turning 

 in on a soft couch formed of pine-branches so arranged that 

 only the tender sprouts remain uppermost. 



I may here remark that although a glass of hot grog is 

 very grateful and comforting to the Himalayan sportsman 

 after he has done his day's work, he will, I think, find cold 

 tea far better than spirits and water, both for quenching his 

 thirst and working upon during the day. 



By daybreak we were on the move towards the wooded 

 steeps and precipices above. After an unsuccessful morning's 

 work, I took the spy-glass to have a final search over the 

 ground before descending to our bivouac for breakfast. 



There they are ! I have them at last, a herd of eleven in 

 all ; and though they are so far off that we cannot distinctly 

 make out the length of their horns, we can tell, from the 

 white colour and size of their bodies, that the three fore- 

 most fellows are old markhor. They are slowly moving up 

 to higher regions after their morning meal, and Gamoo says 

 they will be pretty sure to descend in the afternoon towards 



1 Birch-bark is a staple commodity of commerce in Ca.sliinere, where its 

 thin under-layers almost entirely take the place of paper with the shop- 

 keepers for wrapping up the purchases of their customers, besides for the 

 many other useful purposes to which it is applied. 



