1 1 2 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



with one big buck, and the shikaris, with some 

 two hundred beaters and the royal pack, had 

 gone out to surround them on three sides for the 

 purpose of driving them towards the hunting- 

 ground. Breakfast over, our hands were sprinkled 

 with rose-scented water from a big brass aftaba, 

 and we set off on foot. We soon began to climb 

 up a path newly cut in the steep hillside, and in 

 half an hour found ourselves on a little platform 

 with a low wall in front, some four hundred feet 

 above the stream. Looking across, the opposite 

 slopes deep in snow were visible to a height of 

 two or three thousand feet above us ; they were 

 not excessively steep, and were scantily covered 

 with junipers and holly oaks. Immediately 

 opposite us, at a range of perhaps ninety yards, 

 was a precipitous face of rock going down almost 

 sheer into the water. This was the point to which 

 the markhor were to be driven, and where it was 

 hoped they would stand long enough to be shot. 

 We had now to keep as still and silent as 

 possible, and sat ourselves down behind the wall 

 at points from which we could get a commanding 

 view. An attendant flung over the Mehtar a 

 magnificent fur robe which had come from 

 Bokhara, and others wrapped themselves in 

 sheepskin pelisses and cloaks, for the wind was 

 bitterly cold. Only a few of the Meh tar's 



