A Sportswoman in India 



From this time until the end of the hunt, which 

 brought us back once more to the Nishat Bagh, the 

 proceedings resolved themselves into a race ; there 

 was a burning scent and the country was very negoti- 

 able banks and ditches, practically nothing more. We 

 crossed maize field after field, and rather hard going 

 they were ; finally we got on to some grass, and en- 

 countered an infant brook with a single plank over 

 it, across which a very clever pony or two walked, 

 but I think most of the field preferred a fling at the 

 open water. 



Then clumps of chenars in the distance : had they 

 not a suspicious look of the Nishat Bagh about them ? 

 And where, in the name of fortune, were those precious 

 hares ? Harden your hearts and race for the camp ! 

 Every hound laid his legs to the ground, but the 

 proverbial sheet would hardly have covered the pack, 

 which stretched over half a mile of country ! Down 

 a lane we split, across the sound turf we rattle, tents 

 come into sight, and the last five hundred yards end 

 in a masterly " finish." There are the three good 

 hares, bearing every trace of having been more or 

 less pressed, deep in long whiskies-and-sodas, swearing 

 that they had been at least five minutes " in cover." 



We hounds were fairly beaten ! Tea and liqueurs, 

 for which the Shiny is so justly renowned, followed ; 

 let us hope the ponies' legs were none the worse ! 

 We were paddled back again, and joined a cheery 

 dinner party later on at the Chenar Bagh. 



Such is life at Srinagar. We were off next morning. 



