Sporting Trips of a Subaltern 



was no means of approach, so I sent the faithful 

 tiffin coolie to make a long detour and get above 

 them, then to roll stones down the hill and see 

 what happened. All this was successfully carried 

 out, and the thar bolted down into a narrow but 

 deep nullah and vanished. Now, this nullah had 

 a kink in it which brought it round below me. I 

 ran down to a place whence I could command it, 

 and saw the whole herd in single file bounding 

 along the bottom at a great pace. Hastily picking 

 one, I got a bullet straight down between his 

 shoulder blades, and had the satisfaction of seeing 

 my first thar roll over. 



A more exciting experience was the sequel of 

 a very wet morning that kept me in my tent till 

 11 o'clock; it then cleared quickly, and under a 

 bright blue sky, with the sun sparkling on the 

 freshly fallen snow, we made a start. We soon 

 saw what we at first took to be a red bear high 

 above us, but it gradually resolved itself into a 

 large, solitary thar. A most fatiguing climb 

 commenced proceedings. We were at a great 

 height, and it was highly prejudicial to my wind, 

 and brought on a giddy feeling after hard work. 

 I estimated the climb at about 1000 feet. Crawl- 

 ing round a spur, there was our friend much 

 higher up, but standing against a precipice that 

 even he couldn't negotiate. In front of him was 

 a patch of gently sloping grass, extending some 



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