238 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



she declared, a big buck antelope fast asleep ! 

 And clearly it was the lady's shot. 



We turned our ponies round, and sending a 

 man to stop the caravan, rode quietly round to 

 the opposite side of the hillock to that on which 

 the buck was lying. Tying the ponies' heads 

 together (in other countries this might make 

 ponies kick, in this country it makes them stand), 

 we left them and quietly ascended. Arrived at 

 the top, we found, as is frequently the case with 

 the round hills of Tibet, that the ground curved 

 away in front, and anything a little way down 

 the hill could not be seen at all. So we walked 

 cautiously down. Farther and farther we went. 

 Nothing in view. " Now, was it a stone after all ? " 

 I asked myself. Suddenly up sprang an antelope 

 from under our feet, like a hare out of her form, 

 and was gone a hundred yards before my wife 

 could sit down or I could whistle. Then I 

 whistled for all I was worth. Curiosity, thy name 

 surely is antelope ! He stopped and turned round 

 broadside. Crack went the rifle, and the buck 

 died in a heap. It was 165 measured yards, and 

 I believe the first Tibetan antelope shot by a lady. 

 I let some time elapse before I said anything more 

 about "pale climbers." 



While on the subject of illusions I may mention 

 another to which the stalker of Tibetan antelope 



