2 1 6 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



Now and again the faint but thrilling note of 

 wild geese reached us, and looking up we would 

 see high in the heavens the V - shaped skein 

 winging its way south from the lakes of Central 

 Asia to warmer climes. Once, as we rounded a 

 corner, we came on a big animal that was not 

 a kyang; but the excitement dropped at once 

 to zero, for it was only a female ammon. Getting 

 nearer, we expected to see her dash off, for there 

 is no shyer beast on God's earth ; but she allowed 

 us within ten yards before cantering slowly off. 

 She must either have been ill or guessed she was 

 safe. Siring Namgyal was extremely vexed at 

 my not taking the " chance " so providentially 

 offered, and declared we should have no luck ; 

 but the murder was out of the question, and 

 anyhow luck could not be any worse than what 

 we had been having. Shikaris all over the 

 Himalayas are great believers in sequences, and 

 if one has had no luck on starting a trip, they 

 implore one to kill something, if only a purchased 

 sheep, to break the spell. I would not swear 

 that a hankering after meat has nothing to say 

 to it, yet I am sure that superstition has a great 

 deal more. 



On and on we went, little dots crawling over 

 the vast expanse of desert. The sun got high 

 in the heavens and struck down through the 



