134 A Sportswoman in India 



round the flank of the tahr ; then dropping below, 

 out of sight of the female, worked towards the place 

 where the males should be. The task was a for- 

 midable one indeed. We began the toilsome ascent 

 with the sun literally blazing on our backs ; on we 

 persevered, up and up, across some bad ground, 

 always thinking that surely at last this was the top of 

 all things, only to find a still higher platform of cliff. 



At last the summit was reached. We were hot 

 before ; now we were to be frozen, for the northern 

 slope was one vast sheet of snow ; it was soft, and 

 we sank in often up to our knees slow, toilsome 

 work ! My fingers ached with cold ; my feet were 

 numb. We began climbing down again ; and now 

 the greatest possible precaution was needed, for it 

 was impossible to know exactly where the tahr 

 were : that they were quite close was certain ; but 

 whether to the right, or to the left, or below, we 

 had no idea. 



We trod as silently as experienced burglars ; once, 

 crossing a slaty ridge, the rock under my feet gave 

 way, and down the slates went, with a terrible rattle 

 which must have been heard a mile off ; but I 

 remembered with comfort that hill game are not 

 disturbed by noises of this sort. Now that we were 

 getting close it was nervous work for those who 

 were going to shoot moments painfully strained 

 and propitious for making flagrant misses. 



We halted ; the others crept on to try and locate 

 the tahr. I watched them pass out of sight. A 



