328 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



One does, however, hear of mischievous indi- 

 viduals. My Gilgiti stalker used to tell of one 

 that was a terror to the goat-herds sent to graze 

 the village flocks in the Eakhiot glen not only a 

 robber, but a truculent one, who committed his 

 crimes in the broad light of day and cared for 

 neither man nor dog. Gul Sher encountered him 



when out with T , a noted shot from amongst 



the small party of officers then at Gilgit. Behind 

 them yawned a precipice, in front was the big 

 beast grunting and slavering at the mouth, the 

 devil and the deep sea. They faced one another 



"while men could count a score," and still T 



did not shoot. The bear advanced. 



"Shoot, for God's sake," said Gul Sher, but 



T only looked round over his shoulder. The 



bear came on. Then T slowly put his rifle up 



and shot him dead through the head. 



" And why had not T shot him before ? " I 



asked. 



" That is what I wanted to know," the stalker 

 said ; " and what he told me was that he was just 

 looking for the easiest place to go down the pre- 

 cipice in case the bear was not killed ! " 



I was sitting hearing the story at the exact 

 spot it happened, and going to the edge looked 

 over. The first thing to break a fall was a green 

 lawn of pine-tree tops 2000 feet below ! 



