1 66 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



There is no wild sheep that is easy to stalk, and 

 poli are no exception to the rule. Their sight 

 is marvellously keen, and their smell even more 

 so ; the ground they inhabit is open, and the wind 

 generally most shifty. Everything, in fact, is in 

 their favour and against the sportsman, so that 

 the day when a shot is obtained at an old ram, 

 or roosh as he is locally called, is deserving of an 

 entry in red in any sportsman's diary. Sometimes 

 a stalk is frustrated in a most unexpected manner. 

 One morning we had started when the wind was 

 blowing a gale from the north. "We had spotted 

 a herd, and had successfully reached a boulder- 

 covered spur from which the herd could be seen 

 two hundred yards below us, and quite uncon- 

 scious of danger. To approach nearer was im- 

 possible. By that time the gale had become a 

 blizzard, and undulating curtains of fine hard 

 particles of snow swept and lashed the ground 

 with indescribable fury. Our herd seemed quite 

 unmoved, for these sheep are protected by a thick 

 layer of soft wool, which 'underlies their stiff coats 

 and renders them impervious to any weather. 

 Between the gusts one could see them peacefully 

 moving about, but to aim was literally impossible. 

 Unprotected, the eyes could not be opened in the 

 teeth of the blizzard, while snow-goggles became 

 caked with snow in an instant. We retired 



