The Wild Goats and Sheep of Dardistan 77 



at one bound through a small square glazed win- 

 dow five feet from the ground and was drowned 

 in the river outside, a fine bid for freedom that 

 deserved better luck ! 



The word "markhor" in Persian means " snake- 

 eater " ; but no shikari that I ever met imagined 

 that they eat snakes, or indeed ever heard of such 

 a thing, and if any one should know, those should 

 who have had the gralloching of hundreds of 

 them. In Persia no such animal exists, and the 

 name must have been given originally in Afghanis- 

 tan, or by some of the Persian-speaking invaders of 

 India. To me it seems probable the word was 

 originally mar-khar, which would mean snake- 

 donkey i.e., a donkey with snake-like horns. In 

 Gilgit and Chitral they are not called markhor 

 at all, the natives having different words for the 

 sexes, and again for each sex at the different 

 stages of its life. Though they do not eat snakes, 

 there is a belief in Dardistan that a markhor's 

 skin hung up in a house will prevent snakes from 

 entering. This beast's skin is indeed to the 

 shikari a thing of some value, as after being well 

 smoked and matured it is what he makes his 

 taotis from. These are strips of the raw hide 

 wound round the foot and up the leg, and secured 

 by thongs, an excellent foot-gear for the moun- 

 taineer, especially on rock. 



