Deer-Stalking in Kashmir 279 



the line to take. The thing happens now and 

 again, as every deer-stalker will bear witness. 



The Kashmir red deer is a very similar animal 

 to the better-known Scotch variety; the two, 

 in fact, would be identical but for the difference 

 in the sound of the roar, which presumably 

 indicates a structural difference in the larynx, 

 and the greater size of the Kashmir beast. The 

 latter is a forest-loving animal (perhaps Scotch 

 deer were too, once upon a time), and this alters 

 the form of sport. It is, as a rule, only in the 

 evening that they emerge from their secluded 

 retreats, often too late for a stalk, and they 

 are back again before the sun grows hot on the 

 hillsides. So, as still hunting is quite impossible 

 during the autumn, the sportsman has to be 

 early. He then hopes to pick up beasts at once, 

 for little ground can be covered before it becomes 

 too late to find deer in the open, and then 

 nothing remains for him but to select a com- 

 fortable spot in which to pass the day. This is 

 the tedious part of the business. But, after all, 

 the man who has to while away some hours 

 under a Kashmir sky, surrounded by Kashmir 

 scenes of mountain and forest, lake and stream, 

 is not much to be commiserated. That, however, 

 is a matter of temperament, and a book is cer- 

 tainly a desideratum with most. Then there is 



