AN UNSUCCESSFUL DAY. 25 



mate. They are of a uniform drab or reddish 

 bro^vTi above, and dirty white below ; some 

 are of a much lighter colour than others ; 

 the weight of a female is rarely more than a 

 thii'd of that of a male when in good con- 

 dition. The horns in both sexes are short, 

 and curve slightly backwards. The flesh of 

 the female is tolerable ; that of the male is 

 scarcely eatable at any time, though much 

 esteemed by the hill-men, who ascribe to it 

 many medicinal qualities. A male tahir 

 killed in August or September, before joining 

 the females, is considered by them as the 

 finest game in the hills. 



The following day we were not successful 

 in our beat for tahir on the upper part of 

 the hill. I came upon the track of a very 

 large gerow, the king of the deer tribe in 

 the hills. In vain I followed the track 

 through a beautiful forest with a fine 

 meadow in the bottom, but found nothing 

 except a very large gerow's horn, which I 

 picked up. Returned to camp in the rain. 



A ^vild night, followed by a bad morning. 



