Deer-Stalking in Kashmir 285 



we chose was not the one our beasts selected 

 to cross. 



After waiting till nearly dark, we went along 

 the ridge looking for tracks, and to our deep 

 disgust found that the stags had already crossed 

 at a point not sixty yards from where I had been 

 sitting. We ran like mad down the hill after 

 them, and came on them far down, thoroughly 

 enjoying themselves in the lush grass. Alas, it 

 was too dark to risk a shot, and we climbed back 

 without alarming them. Next morning (it was 

 the 1st of April) we were on the ridge long before 

 the sun, but they had recrossed before us. We 

 went on to our spying points, and after some time 

 made them out far down in the forest. Presently 

 they lay down. A hurried consultation was held. 

 It was, I must repeat, the 1st of April, and any 

 day now that royal might shed his antlers. Some- 

 thing had to be done. He was too cute to be 

 driven, and waiting on the ridge in the evening 

 was too uncertain. A stalk, difficult as it seemed 

 in that dense, dry forest, was our only plan. This 

 time I took my double cordite rifle with solid 

 bullets, as more reliable than the Mannlicher, 

 for the latter's bullets break up on touching 

 a twig. 



We slided and crawled down a deep snow-filled 

 gully, taking extraordinary care. Every twig that 



