48 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



very anxious moment. If the frightened beast 

 made off round the other side of the spur towards 

 which we were going, it was odds she would give 

 the alarm to our herd, and then good-bye to our 

 chance of the big markhor that day ; so we simply 

 sat motionless as stones and waited. It seemed 

 as if she would never satisfy her curiosity, for 

 she stood without a move for a good ten minutes. 

 At last she turned and began bounding off and 

 in a safe direction ! And now, as it had been 

 already late before this contretemps took place, 

 and we did not wish to find the markhor had 

 wandered up into their fastnesses, Gul Sher 

 quickened the pace, and without a word or a halt 

 we traversed the precipices that guarded the flank 

 of the ravine that was our objectif. Arrived at 

 the spot, Gul Sher took off his cap and crawled 

 stealthily to the edge of the ridge and looked over, 

 while I stood for a moment, face to the breeze, to 

 regain my breath. Then crawling after Gul Sher, 

 I reached his side and looked over. In front of 

 us was a ravine some five hundred yards across, 

 deep in snow, and terminating above us to our 

 right in a black wall of rock. But it was bare of 

 any living thing. Tracks, however, we could see 

 with our glasses, and they showed that the herd 

 had moved on over the opposite ridge. After 

 assuring ourselves that there was no watchful 



