84 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



soon as the sun strikes the hillside, if the sky is 

 clear one may count on the wind setting upwards : 

 the game has then, of course, to be approached 

 from above. This general rule has exceptions 

 of course ; for instance, a big mass of snow or 

 glacier often causes a local downward current. 

 In Tibet and the Pamirs the wind is proverbially 

 treacherous, and on stormy days everywhere in 

 the Himalaya successful stalks are the exception, 

 though good approaches have been made under 

 cover of a passing cloud. A storm in the summer 

 sends ibex straight down to lower altitudes, as 

 their coats are then thin. 



Though a very powerful animal, an ibex col- 

 lapses sooner to a bullet than most other mountain 

 game. When wounded, he will sometimes employ 

 his horns for purposes of defence, but it is needless 

 to say that the old travellers' tale of the use ibex 

 make of their horns as a sort of buffer to alight on 

 when throwing themselves down precipices is a 

 myth. The story has, however, some foundation, 

 for I have seen an ibex that was going too fast 

 down a hard snow slope put the brake on by dig- 

 ging a horn sideways into the snow. 



A remarkable but not very uncommon attitude 

 in ibex that I have never seen mentioned is sitting 

 up on their haunches like a dog, which gives them 

 a very comical appearance. I must admit I have 



