Caccabis Chakor 99 



stand and be able to twist round without upset- 

 ting, one is in luck's way. Naturally, the line is 

 placed where the valley narrows ; frequently also 

 in front of a rib of rock or bluff, or on a ridge of 

 boulders, all of which are places chakor fly to, and 

 from which it is difficult to dislodge them. In 

 number the guns should be as a rule from three 

 to seven or eight ; but in this remote country, 

 except at Drosh, where there is a Goorkha regi- 

 ment stationed, it is as a rule difficult to get even 

 two guns. Often in Chitral itself, where the 

 people, as has been mentioned, are great falconers, 

 in the place of other guns a few of the local 

 " nobility " make up a party and throw off their 

 hawks at the driven birds, for in Chitral falcons 

 are trained not to be gun-shy. 



Let me, however, try to describe a typical drive. 

 Breakfast has been eaten by candle-light, and by 

 7 A.M. the guns are climbing into their places. 

 The early rising which chakor-shooting demands 

 is not its most delightful part, but it is a necessity, 

 for after eleven, unless the birds are kept very low 

 down by deep snow, they are scattered all over 

 the hillsides and nothing can be done with them. 

 The scene is a fan of cultivated terraces facing the 

 Chitral river at the embouchure of a glen. Above 

 the cultivation are steep hillsides covered with 

 coarse grass and wormwood and littered with 



