kazima's first testimonial. 197 



companions, as I saw the leading man come tumbling, as I 

 tliouglit, down what seemed, from where we sat, to be an 

 almost perpendicular wall of snow. My horror was mingled 

 with astonishment at seeing another and then another man 

 follow the first, until all had slid down to where the snow 

 was less steep below, from whence they leisurely continued 

 their descent, when it at once struck me what a mistake I 

 had made in my unpleasant surmises. 



"We moved next day to another locality, but fortune's 

 favours had departed with those three big bucks. Such 

 extraordinary luck in seeing, in so short a time, so many 

 large markhor, which are usually very difficult to find, 

 could not possibly last; and during the several days we 

 continued to hunt for them, not another pair of good 

 horns did we see. 



It was with much regret that, at the termination of this 

 short but satisfactory trip, I bade adieu to the shikarees 

 and others that had served me so well on the mountains, 

 and amongst them Kazima, who had turned out such a good 

 fellow, and had made himself so generally useful. He had 

 now entirely dropped his grand airs, and on being dis- 

 charged had not even conceit enough left in him to ask 

 for a testimonial as to his sporting qualifications. A short 

 time after, when encamped in the Cashmere valley, I ob- 

 served coming along the path which passed my tent a 

 stalwart, sportingly-got-up individual, with a pair of 

 markhor horns hanging from the mountain-pole he carried 

 over his shoulder. As he drew near I was delighted to 

 find it was my friend Kazima, and the horns were the 

 identical ones he had picked up when with me on the Pir. 

 As he had not as yet succeeded in "sticking" any one 

 with them, he bore them as an emblem of his would-be 

 calling. The pleasure of meeting seemed mutual, for on 

 recognising me he ran forward as if about to embrace me, 

 and pulling out a scrap of paper, exclaimed, " See what 

 I've got since I left your service ! " Taking the paper. 



