In Gurwal 



bare, stony ravines and black precipices frown on 

 you from every side. It is far beyond my pen to 

 describe the desolate grandeur of it all ; but the 

 view eighty miles back is the finest after all. 

 Even that snow-field that was one of those you 

 saw glistening so brightly from afar looks dirty 

 and uninviting now. These, however, were the 

 " Thar juggas " (Places of the Thar), the beast we 

 had come so far principally to seek. The thar 

 are well represented at present at the Zoo; the 

 small herd there including a remarkably fine 

 "jula" (old ram), so any one who wishes to 

 study him can do it without unnecessarily 

 fatiguing themselves by following the Billung 

 river to its source on the borders of Tibet. They 

 have the reputation, which I am prepared to up- 

 hold as far as my limited knowledge goes, of living 

 in more inaccessible places than any other game 

 on earth. Certainly my first view of a " thar 

 jugga " appalled me. A terrific precipice with 

 narrow and very sloping ledges running across its 

 face, ledges where it looked impossible for any 

 living thing to pass, and "Thar jugga," remarked 

 Hira Singh. 



Without going at length into our hunting of 

 the thar, I will now pick out one of my most 

 eventful days. Camp is pitched in a bare stony 

 ravine, snow edges the summits on both sides and 

 lies in patches down the watercourses. The 



