A Vanishing Sport 1 1 9 



At the mouth of the selected valley he 

 flings four pieces of his loaf north, south, east, 

 and west, invoking the special fairy of the place. 

 " Oh guardian of this golden glen, this slave 

 has approached thy abode. Look on him with 

 kindness. I have come under thy silken sleeve 

 and the hem of thy skirts. Of thy flocks, 

 grant me but one beast. Let him be such as 

 has no wool, has no milk, and is unable to keep 

 up with the herd, that is thin, weak, lame, and 

 even blind. Give keenness to my eyes and power 

 to my limbs, so that I may slay one animal. 

 Safeguard me from all dangers." 



For the hunter of the Hindu Kush, the year 

 is divided into numerous seasons, known under 

 different names. There is the rutting season, 

 when the sexes mingle in the early winter; 

 the dead of winter, when all the ibex grounds 

 are fathoms deep in snow ; the avalanche season, 

 when the roar of cataracts of snow is almost 

 continuous under the morning and midday sun ; 

 the season when the lower slopes with a south- 

 ern aspect form brown streaks in a white ocean 

 of mountains; the season when fresh green grass 

 begins to appear, and slowly spreads up the 

 mountain to the lowest limits of eternal snow ; 

 the summer, when all the mountain-sides where 

 earth can lie are carpeted with grass and flowers, 



